VIRG: Project Black Ghost
by Anonymous Fanz
Summary: During the Vytal Festival, everything was a little too quiet. Secretly, plots were being formed. Steal an ancient power long forgotten, hide a secret that could destroy the four kingdoms, destroy a threat to all life on Remnant, and create the perfect soldier to fight an enevitable war. And the Vytal Festival was the perfect opportunity to execute them. VIRG volume 2
1. All your fault

**This is the second Volume of VIRG. Project Black Ghost. I was waiting for Age of Chaos to end before I start this. I'm also going to do some revisions to the first volume. I won't retcon anything, beyond some things my brother changed in his Remastered Ghosts of Onyx, but the story will be mostly the same.**

 **As for this volume. It's going to explore the past of Viridian more, and focus on the General more. We'll also see more of the Ghosts, my brother's OCs. I highly recommend reading his stories to understand what the Riders are, since they will be an important part of the story.**

* * *

 **...**

Throwing away a plan is a skill every great planner should have. But even predicting the unpredictable isn't always enough. There simply isn't anything Camo can do. If Viridian vanishes during the Vytal Festival, people will ask questions. Paranoia would attract the Grimm. They've already begun gathering in areas near Vale.

 _You should have finished him while you had the chance._ Camo reminded himself. _Maybe Eclipse was right. Maybe I was unfocused. Too certain of victory._ He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

 _Maybe Onyx's attitude was rubbing off on me._ Having Onyx Rider, seemed like unbeatable odds at the time. But the chaos from the Breach gave Viridian an unexpected power boost. Onyx didn't conserve enough of his energy for a fight with Viridian, and Dr. Artemis. He was lucky the Grimm didn't interfere. There's no telling how the Armored Basilisk would have affected the battle.

Camo did have access to two more Rider's than last time. Anna Sage, Onyx's niece, and Desmond Night were both able to join the Ghosts. On the other hand, all Rider's were weakened after a recent battle with Umbra. The same Battle where Onyx sacrificed himself to preserve the Rider's legacy.

The Ghosts were in smaller number. Brass and Volt were killed by Umbra. Onyx was dead, and this time he wouldn't be coming back. Light left to handle a personal matter. Camo and Silicon were the only remaining members that encountered Viridian. Of course, Camo still had others assets. However, they were busy with various tasks.

The biggest concern was Eclipse. Their leaders vanished. None of Camo's spies planted inside the organization have reported anything. However, this is likely because the leaders are only communicating with their closest allies. Had Camo not revealed Aquamarine so early, he would know exactly what they were up to. _But you got cocky, and threw away your shot at killing two birds with one stone._

 _That was your fault._

...

Viridian watched Team RWBY battle Team ABRN in the Vytal tournament. _You'd be able to fight there if you didn't get your teammate hurt._ Viridian is surprised he hasn't left Beacon yet. He would have left a long time ago, had his partner Grey not been injured. _You left him alone. You should have been there to help him._ Grey's right eye was blinded, and it is currently unknown if he'll recover.

Grey wasn't his only problem. Rusty discovered his brother Damascus was aiding Eclipse. Now Carbon Steele is visiting Beacon to have a meeting with General Ironwood. _And then Atlas will turn Gunmetal Industries against you._ Viridian's thoughts were filled with paranoia. He knows He has enemies in Atlas. Powerful ones at that.

 _You let Eclipse use you as a distraction._ Viridian helped Dr. Artemis fight Onyx Rider. Although Viridian did most of the fighting. In the end, Eclipse escaped. _You helped them escape._ Viridian spented hours searching mission boards for any signs of their return. But they've completely vanished.

Meanwhile, Ruby managed to capture Roman Torchwick. _Because she wasn't thinking about herself._ Torchwick's capture seemed to stop crime in Vale as a whole. There should have been a power struggle triggered. But no new criminal emerged to take Torchwick's place.

The quiet was only making his paranoia worse. _Why isn't anything happening?_ Crime has never taken a holiday before. Yet, it seems to be taking a vacation for this Vytal Festival. Torchwick isn't that important that he could end crime with his absence. Not unless it was part of a larger plan. But whose? Who else could be looking for you?

Neither Eclipse, nor Atlas, have made any moves to capture Viridian. They're likely planning their next move. Or worse, already six moves ahead. _You put yourself into this situation._ Viridian couldn't help blaming himself. He had several opportunities to leave Vale. _But you choose to stay, and bring trouble to everyone around you._

 _That was your fault._

 _..._


	2. Nefarious plans

**I'd like to take this momment to thank my brother. He countributed a number of his OCs. Night, Anna Sage, Silicon, and a few others that haven't been introduced. Like the Heliotrope brothers. They are going to be very important. I also have one person that you might think is dead coming.**

 **...**

 _"What are you doing up this late?" A woman's voice asked._

 _"I'm training. I want to be Huntsman." A young boy answered._

 _"Really? And why is that?" The woman asked, intrigued._

 _"Because I want to be like dad." The young boy answered._

...

Teal Aquamarine's cell was opened by Camo. Camo was wearing his formal Atlesian uniform, suggesting that this was not a rescue.

"What do you want." Aquamarine asked.

"I'm supposed to interrogate you. Convince you to help me find the rest of Eclipse." Camo answered.

"I can't leave." Aquamarine concluded.

"Why?" Camo asked.

"Ironwood. He needs me to keep an eye on one of the other prisoners." Aquamarine answered.

"I'm trying to protect the world!" Camo shouted.

"We all are. You keep forgetting that Viridian isn't the only threat out there." Aquamarine countered. "First the CCT, then the Breach. Those were just a setup for a larger scheme. By someone inside Beacon." Aquamarine explained.

"None of that is going to matter if she finds out that Viridian exists!" Camo yelled. "In her hands, he's the ultimate weapon. They wouldn't need the setups. He could cause enough fear and paranoia to start an attack at any moment."

"You don't need me for that." Aquamarine noted. "Limone knows everything I know about Eclipse.

"I don't need knowledge. I need fighters." Camo explained.

"Then hire one of the other mercenaries." Aquamarine replied. "I'm needed here. Not out there."

"They don't know Rifleman like you do." Camo reminded. "You're irreplaceable. I can replace Onyx with Night. I can replace any one of the kids. But you're my friend. I can't let you go."

"Cut the sociopathic crap." Aquamarine growled. "You're not going to persuade me by pretending you have feelings while you're asking me to kill a child."

"You know what Viridian is. He's a danger to all of Remnant." Camo explained.

"He's not even part of their plans." Aquamarine noted. "Ozpin thinks he could do some good. You're the only one afraid of him."

"Because I know Rifleman expects him to reveal everything." Camo answered. "She wouldn't put all that work into him unless she was absolutely certain."

"And what if he's just a distraction?" Aquamarine warned. "Then you've wasted potential assets on nothing."

"So this is it. You're abandoning the mission?" Camo asked.

"No. I'm focusing on the primary objective. You're getting distracted." Aquamarine answered. Camo left the cell.

...

Eclipse disappeared after the Breach. Unlike other criminals halted activities, this was expected. They had dangerous enemies in Vale. Taking any action while Atlas was defending it would end disastrously. They were unaware that the Ghost's roster had shrunk, and assumed their enemies were at full strength.

A man walked in, using a purple cane with a golden hilt. His purple helmet had a silver visor. There were three horizontal rows of eye slits, with two slits in each row. Below the slits were a pair of fangs, designed into the helmet for cosmetic reasons. He wore gauntlets, greeves, shouldpads, and a large cuirass all colored purple. A black jumpsuit covered what his armor did not.

"A descendant of the Eight Riders." Luna Artemis recognized the gold emblem on the purple buckle of his silver belt. The creast of Pallium, the fourth Rider.

"Jay Heliotrope." The man introduced himself. He made no attempt his cocky attitude from his voice.

"And what brings you here?" Artemis asked.

Heliotrope climbed over a table and sat down. "My boss has some nefarious plans for the Vytal Festival. Real evil stuff." Heliotrope explained. "I'm responsible making sure Onyx Rider and his Ghost's can't foil them." This task had already beenpartially Handled.

"I could help you. But how does Eclipse benefit?" Artemis asked.

"I heard you lost a lab because of Onyx Rider and his Ghosts." Heliotrope replied. "All that scientific research down the drain." Heliotrope leaped off of the desk. "Must be pretty bad having the Ghosts are trying to kill the same people you're looking for."

"Make your point or leave." Artemis ordered, growing tired of Heliotrope's lengthy chatter.

"If you help me eliminate the Ghosts, both our plans can go unopposed." Heliotrope concluded.

"I accept your offer." Artemis responded.

"Seriously? I thought most evil organizations these days were reluctant to serve other causes." Heliotrope commented.

"Our goals are benefitted by your goals." Artemis replied.

"Glad you see reason." Heliotrope answered. "Maybe I'm just a better negotiator than Cinder."

...


	3. The Steele's

**This chapter is getting a lot of focus on Rusty's family. They're all important people to Remnant, although they are far from the Schnee's. Without them, there would be less Huntsmen, since they are the largest weapons producing company on Remnant. They're like the Schnee's of the arms race.**

 **...**

 _"It's important That your weapon matches your skills." Charles Silicon lectured his students at Signal Academy._

 _He drew his weapon, in the form of a staff. "Some fighters prefer a blunt instrument."_

 _The staff transformed into a sword. "Others prefer something with more of an edge."_

 _The sword turned back into a baton. "And sometimes range is prefered over close quarters." The baton fired a blast at a target board._

 _The baton transformed into a spear. "Many fighters prefer versatility. Transforming their weapons from one form, to another." Silicon explained. "More often than not, one of them is a gun."_

 _"Your weapons are like your third arms and legs. If you design a weapon you can't use effectively, you're better off working for Gunmetal Industries." Boxes of weapons with the mentioned companies name were handed out._

...

Charles Silicon walked towards a snack vendor.

"One extra large bag of popcorn." Rusty Steele made purchase from the snack vendor.

"It's nice still having an allowance, isn't it?" Olivia Thorne asked. Her true name, was Electricity Steele.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something." Rusty explain. The two walked away from the vendor.

"Professor Silicon!" Ruby exclaimed. _Now isn't the time for this._

"Ruby, Yang. Team RWBY." Silicon turned to face team RWBY.

"I can't remember the last time we've seen you, and something wasn't going wrong." Yang noted.

 _Because I'm supposed to be spying on someone, not conversating with old friends._ Silicon ranted internally, as Thorne escaped his line of sight.

"I'm just enjoying the rare peace and quiet." Silicon answered calmly. The Ghosts had been trained to ignore their emotions as children. This made lying a simple task.

...

"You find out anything about why Atlas is using me?" Electricity asked. She had been relying on her brother to investigate Atlas's intentions.

"Yeah. Apparently, they're trying to cover something up." Rusty answered. He pulled out his scroll. "They erased files related keywords like "Rider" or "Umbra"."

"Viridian is connected to one of those things." Electricity concluded.

"No. His files completely clean." Rusty replied. "They only went after him because Eclipse was looking for him."

"What about the sword? It was stolen, right." Electricity asked. Her knowledge of that story was limited to what Atlas had told her.

"Not by Viridian. The report filed on the weapons theft blames Kelly Rifleman." Rusty responded.

"That name sounds familiar." Electricity noted.

"She was a scientist that studied Grimm. Atlas wanted her to stop her research, but she just took funding from elsewhere." Rusty explained "Eclipse is trying to dig up her work, while Atlas wants to keep it buried."

"Sounds like she found something they don't want anyone to know." Electricity replied.

...

General Ironwood patrolled the Vytal Festival. He was approached by a man wearing a red tuxedo.

"General Ironwood. I'm a representative of Gunmetal Industries." The man introduced himself. "I'd like to talk about our Artificial Intelligence Research."

"Like I told your boss over the phone, the Atlesian Military does not need your assistance in improving our technology." Ironwood responded.

"Right. I guess you don't need me to keep your secrets either." The man replied.

"Are you threatening to blackmail me?" General Ironwood asked.

"More or less. But I think your girly robot would be much more interesting to the public." The man said threateningly.

"What does your father want?" General Ironwood questioned, recognizing the man.

"I'm not working for him. I'm working for Eclipse." Damascus Steele replied.


	4. Causality and effect

**I'm working on a few stories I haven't released yet. I put more focus on them now, so they won't delay other projects when I start writing on them. In hindsight, I should have done more of this while I was waiting for AOC to finish, but then again, I didn't have the story ideas back then.**

* * *

 **...**

 _"You always need to control the fight." A woman instructed. "Adjust to your tactics to exploit your opponent's weaknesses."_

 _"What if I'm fighting someone who has no weaknesses?" A young boy asked._

 _"Everyone has weaknesses. Physical, psychological, emotional." The woman replied. "Even strength can be a weakness, when turn against them. You just need to figure out how to exploit it."_

...

Viridian stared at the Atlasian airships hovering over Vale. _They're waiting for the right moment._ He reminded himself.

"Hey, can I borrow some money?" Indigo Goferra asked her teammate.

Viridian opened his wallet, and pulled put some Lien. "Here."

Indigo noticed an insignia on the wallet. "Cloverfield Labs?" Indigo questioned.

"My mother inherited it her from mother." Viridian explained.

"Never heard of them. What do they do?" Indigo asked, intrigued.

"They use private funding to develop new technology." Viridian answered. He sounded apathetic, as if he were discussing a trival matter.

"So it's like Eclipse, but without the criminal activity." Indigo concluded.

"More or less." Viridian replied.

"You and Rusty both have rich parents. No wonder you two became friends." Indigo said.

"I have a rich parent." Viridian noted.

"You're not like Rusty, or Weiss, or Jaune." Indigo observed.

"What do you mean?" Viridian asked.

"Your family doesn't motivate you like their's." Indigo elaborated. "Why didn't you end up like them?"

"Maybe it's because I don't have siblings." Viridian shrugged. _Maybe it's because your father is trying to kill you._

"You think your different because of you, or because of something in your life." Indigo asked.

"I wouldn't know." Viridian answered.

...

"You decided you can just say we trust Heliotrope without me?" Dr. Sol Apollo asked angrily.

"I'm sure you would have said agreed to his offer." Dr. Luna Artemis replied.

"This is feeling less like a partnership." Apollo explained. "First, you recruit Onyx without my consideration. Then you agree to let Achroma collect the Crown of the Riders."

"We didn't need the Crown, and we owed a debt." Dr. Artemis justified.

"So you let someone we can't trust take it?" Apollo questioned.

"I never told you to fight Onyx Rider. Twice." Dr. Artemis remind. "Besides, we're working on Project Black Ghost now. That was your idea."

"I'm questioning what you want from this." Dr. Apollo said.

"I want to see the doctor's work completed, same as you." Dr. Artemis replied.

...

"If you're certain the procedure will be successful. What are you worried about?" Professor Ozpin asked. He was on a level of Beacon Tower hidden deep below the school, staring two pods. One with an unconscious girl inside, and the other empty.

"I'm worried the unknown factors. Separated Maiden power is uncharted waters for the both us." Dr. Kelly Rifleman explained. She wore a white lab coat. Under the labcoat was a green sweater, and brown cargo pants. Her boots were black, with brown straps with silver buckles. She had golden goggles with jade lenses and a brown strap, hanging around her neck. An advanced device was locked around her ankle.

"I'm aware that you prefer to rely on certainties, but that isn't a luxury we can afford." Ozpin responded.

"I'm certain that the people you're up against have that luxury." Dr. Rifleman grumbled. "They've had time to plan for every possibilty.

"Which is exactly why we're using what cannot be expected." Ozpin replied.

"The next generation? You think they aren't going to expect that?" Dr. Rifleman asked.

"I know that no one can predict uncertainties." Ozpin answered. "You of all people should know that." He reminded.

"It doesn't matter. The attacker was able to take down a fully powered maiden. She's probably going to steal the rest of the power, regardless of who's holding it." Dr. Rifleman noted.

"If this works, we can at least buy some time." Ozpin assured.

"Even if we do transfer over the power, I have no idea what the second soul will do to the first." Dr. Rifleman said. "Without studying the assailant's changes, I can't tell what side effects the process might have."

"Can we transfer the power, or not?" Ozpin finally asked.

"Yes, but only on the right host." Dr. Rifleman answered. "A mentally unprepared subject could lose their mind and a physically unworthy subject may not be able to hold onto the power. And if the attacker was only able to hold onto the power because she was the last person in Amber's thoughts, then the procedure is doomed to fail."

"Is there anyway to minimize the risk?" Ozpin asked.

"Only if you can find the exact type of host the power would choose when if the last person Amber thought about was Qrow." Dr. Rifleman replied.

"That could be any young female." Ozpin explained.

"Not if there's a pattern you haven't noticed." Dr. Rifleman theorized. "Like I said, uncharted waters. If I had some kind of record of previous Maiden's I could figure out who might be compatible."

"You've done enough. Now, it's past time you left." General Ironwood walked towards the two.

"Leave? Do you think I'm stalling to avoid going back to my cell?" Dr. Rifleman asked.

"If the machine is finished, then you're not needed here anymore." General Ironwood spoke.

"You didn't answer my question." Dr. Rifleman observed. "Is this about Camo? What did he do this time?"

"It's none of your concern." Ironwood answered.

"So it IS about Camo." Dr. Rifleman concluded. She followed General Ironwood to the elevator.


	5. The enemy of my frenemy

**I have so much stuff planned for the Battle of Beacon. I've literally been waiting since Volume 3 because of that point.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"You can't hide the truth forever." An angry woman yelled._

 _"It's been hidden for decades, and we plan to keep it that way." A General replied._

 _"She's going to use that against you." The woman warned._

 _"She won't fight a battle she can't win. She knows we have all of the power." The General noted._

 _"Not all of the power." The woman reminded. "She has fear. And hiding the truth makes it stronger."_

 _"Only if people learn the truth. Which they won't." The General explained._

 _"The truth always comes out." The woman responded._

...

"I was unable to confirm whether or not the Ms. Steele can be trusted." Silicon reported, as he entered a server room inside of the CCT.

"What happened?" Camo asked. Camo kept his eyes focused on a computer, which he left one hand on. Camo's eyes glowed green, as he used the Steele's family semblance to access the data. Camo' Semblance allowed him to temporarily copy other's Semblances.

"Team RWBY. In order to avoid alerting them to my suspicions, I had to lose visual." Silicon explained. It's unlikely team RWBY would help Camo find their friend, Viridian.

Camo' eyes returned to normal. "And I can't find anything in Atlas's databasey." Camo explained, as he took his hand off of the computer.

"Did you try tracking cargo manifests? Located any reports of stowaways." Silicon suggested. Atlas kept records of their cargo. They also made reports of inconsistencies in these cargo, to locate thieves.

"Of course. Whatever he did, he didn't use Atlasian resources for." Camo replied.

"Unless he has something off the books that can transport someone across Remnant." Silicon noted.

"Wait a minute." Camo's eyes started glowing again. "I tried looking for resources connected to Penny. But maybe he already had Rifleman moved for a different project."

"Atlas shutdown her research in the past. What would make them take an interest in her?" Silicon wondered.

"Desperation." Camo answered. His eyes returned to normal again.

"You think that Ironwood is using Rifleman because of what happened to the Fall Maiden?" Silicon realized. Because of the Umbra Agency that created Silicon and Camo, both were privileged with knowledge of Remnant's secrets. Largely, because they were several of those secrets.

"Ironwood could easily send her to one of the other Headmaster's to have her moved outside of the database." Camo explained.

"Which means she could be almost anywhere." Silicon reminded.

"Not exactly." Camo replied. A symbol resembling a chesspiece appeared on the computer screen. "Salem broke into the CCT to plant this virus. It's like a digital version of the Steele's Semblance."

"But they stayed in Vale after it was in place. They know the Fall Maiden is near by." Silicon concluded.

Camo smirked. "Either that, or Amber was supposed to be a warning."

"Amber's probably being hidden inside of Beacon. That's where Ironwood spends all of his time when he isn't on his Airship." Silicon noted.

"Probably. But I want to talk with the person that installed this virus first." Camo said. He pulled out his scroll.

"How exactly do you plan to do that?" Silicon asked.

"The virus leaches information and sends it to a receiver program. I sent a message to the receiver." Camo answered.

Silicon gave Camo the same frown he gave his students from Signal. "We're working with Salem. You know that comes with risks."

"It's only a matter of time before Salem finds out about Viridian. He can't be alive when that happens." Camo justified his actions.

...

Cinder received a notification on her scroll. She looked to see a message. "I can find Fall. Meet me at the Crow Bar." _If this is a trap, I'm not walking into it. But if this can speed up the plan, then it's worth investigating._

Cinder used her scroll to make a call. "Cinder? I didn't know you had my number. Did I give it to you, or did you steal it?" Jay Heliotrope was quick to answer, almost as if he were expecting the call.

"I need you to investigate a possible lead on the Fall Maiden's location." Cinder ignored Heliotrope's small talk.

"Alright, straight to business. Where do you want me?" Heliotrope replied.

"The Crow Bar." Cinder answered.

"Wait, are you sending me after Qrow Branwen?" Heliotrope asked. Cinder hung up without answering.

...

"So disrespectful." Heliotrope said, as he put his scroll into his belt buckle. "Now where was I?" He asked the injured street thug he was standing top of. "Oh right, next time you're told to take the Vytal Festival off, that includes small time dust thefts."

"Are you the Rider?" The thief asked. The Rider was one the many aliases used by Onyx Rider.

"No. I'm a rider." Heliotrope stomped on the thiefs neck, choking him until he passed out.


	6. Unexpectedly allies

**I am going to be introducing Qrow into the story. Which is great, because he opens some of the baclstory behind Viridian and Ruby's friendship, and some of his past. Because Viridian was avoiding Ruby for most of the first story, I didn't have a reason to show much of that.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"You should never rely on luck." The woman warned. "Luck is a factor of uncontrolled odds."_

 _"What if I controlled those odds?" The boy asked._

 _The woman chuckled. "Then you aren't relying on luck. You're commanding it."_

 _"How do I control luck?" The boy asked._

 _"You can't. That's why you need to rely on certainty, not chance."_

...

Damascus escorted Dr. Rifleman to Dr. Artemis and Dr. Apollo.

"I never thought I'd see the day! Dr. Rifleman, I am Dr. Apollo. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Dr. Apollo quickly introduced himself.

"I am Dr. Artemis. We have worked hard to recreate your work." Dr. Artemis explained.

"Interesting. How much progress have you made?" Dr. Rifleman asked. Damascus removed her cuffs. Dr. Rifleman rubbed her freed wrists.

"Despite having access to you're research and facilities, we've been unable to recreate Viridian. Our study's of the Grimm were unable to determine what you discovered about the Grimm's origin." Dr. Apollo reported.

Dr. Rifleman looked at a pod. "Is this your attempt at recreating Viridian?" She asked.

"Yes. We haven't figured out the exact genetic traits you used to create Viridian." Dr. Apollo answered.

"Despite using my own DNA as a substitute for the DNA of the Test Subjects, our attempts have been unsuccessful." Dr. Artemis continued. She showed their research notes on a screen.

"It's because you're a clone. Your DNA doesn't have the same augmentations that the Test Subjects received." Dr. Rifleman explained. "And we need more Congeria."

"Congeria? The poison?" Damascus asked. Congeria is a poison created from Chaos Grimm, which once existed in an alternate dimension.

"Yes! We'll need at least a tank full before we can start the modifications." Dr. Rifleman answered.

"We lost access to the Chaos Zone when Camo attacked our main lab. It was probably siezed by Atlas." Dr. Apollo noted.

"Then steal it back!" Rifleman ordered. Damascus and Apollo quickly left.

...

Camo reported to General Ironwood. "You requested to see me?" Camo asked.

"I need you to eliminate Eclipse. Discreetly." Ironwood explained.

"Why haven't you asked me sooner?" Camo asked.

"Now, they're a threat to Atlasian Security." Ironwood answered. "They discovered Penny because of your attack on their warehouse. Damascus Steele is threatening to reveal what he knows. He's the main target."

"I won't let them escape again." Camo assured. _This won't be anything like last time._ Camo told himself.

"Damascus is the priority. If you come back without him, Salem won't need to find Viridian." Ironwood reminded.

"No one is getting away this time." Camo assured.

...

Jay Heliotrope walked into the Crow Bar, and sat next to a man wearing a brown trenchcoat. "I'm going to guess that you're the contact." Limone Y'lo concluded.

"I'm more of a messenger." Heliotrope replied. "I'll have water." Jay ordered.

"Your loss. The water sucks. Why the hell did I even order this?" Limone complained.

"I'm take it that you're with Onyx Rider's Ghosts." Heliotrope presumed.

Limone finished his drink. "I'm more of a messenger." Limone replied. "So here's the deal. We want to find Dr. Rifleman before Eclipse does."

Heliotrope's drink was placed on the counter. "Aren't you going to take your helmet off?" The bartender asked. Heliotrope poored the water onto his visor, and used a napkin to wipe it clean.

"No." Heliotrope answered.

"So, are you taking the offer?" Limone shifted the conversation back towards the deal.

"First, I want to know what your boss has against science." Heliotrope replied. "It seems like this guy really hates people with doctorates."

"Only the ones that know about where he came from." Limone retorted. Camo's main goal was to erase traces of the Rider's existence.

"So this is about burying a secret." Heliotrope concluded. "Too bad I'm not looking for the Maiden. I'm looking for Onyx Rider." Heliotrope responded.

Limone laughed at the meantion of the name. "Onyx Rider is dead."

"So I've heard. But he always comes back, using a different name." Heliotrope replied. Onyx Rider was known by so many names, some of his loved ones started calling him "demon" rather than keeping track of his newest alias.

"Not this time." Limone assured. _If he wasn't dead, he'd probably be here right now._

"Then tell whoever is in charge that if they don't convince me, all hell is going to break loose when the Vytal Festival ends." Heliotrope threatened.


	7. The Relics

**If you read my brother's stories, you'll find hints of what was done to create Viridian, and why Camo doesn't want Salem to know that he exists. There's actually a few possibilities you might end up looking at.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"What did you do?" The General asked, angered._

 _"I achieved the Umbra Agency's ultimate goal." The woman answered calmly. "I created a warrior that will protect Remnant from it's greatest threats."_

 _"The Umbra Agency was shut down for a reason." The General reminded._

 _"I've seen what's coming. Without Viridian, Remnant will be destroyed." The woman warned._

 _"You can't see everything." The General responded._

...

A Bullhead landed aboard one of the Atlesian Airships. Limone Y'lo exited the Bullhead, and rushed to Camo. "The contact is looking for Onyx." Limone warned.

"Onyx is dead." Camo responded.

"He's threatening an attack after the Vytal Festival if he doesn't find him." Limone added.

"I'll handle it later." Camo responded. "We're going after Eclipse."

"He didn't give me their location." Limone explained.

"Ironwood sent in a tracker. He wants Damascus in custody." Camo explained. Camo boarded the Bullhead.

...

Damascus parked a red expensive sports car with gold highlights in front of a unrobbed Dust Store. "How are we going to access Atlas's most secure files?" Apollo asked.

"I have leverage on General Ironwood." Damascus answered. He adjusted his tie after exiting the car.

"So we're doing this the old fashioned way." Apollo concluded.

"Control the puppetmaster, and you control the puppets." Damascus chuckled. _Puppets aren't the only ones with strings._

...

"Dr. Rifleman, there's a small problem." Dr. Artemis warned.

"What is it?" Rifleman asked.

"The Chaos Projector requires one of the Relics of the Riders to power." Dr. Artemis explained.

"Then find one." Dr. Rifleman answered.

"We had three of the Eight Rider's relics, but they were lost before we could rescue you." Dr. Artemis reported. Eclipse previously possessed the Shard, the Ring, and the Crown of the Riders.

"Do you know who possesses them now." Dr. Rifleman asked.

"The Shard is in the possession of Onyx Rider. I'll find him soon enough." Jay Heliotrope interjected.

"Dr. Rifleman, this is Jay Heliotrope. A descendant of one of the original eight Riders." Dr. Artemis introduced. "We don't know who possesses the Ring at this moment, but it's most likely one of the Ghosts."

"And the Crown?" Dr. Artemis asked.

...

The crystal on Crown of the Riders started glowing. Indigo Goferra stared at the Crown, which was attached to her hat. " _That Crown doesn't belong to you, thief."_ A vengeful voice growled in her mind.

"Indigo? You coming to see match Team JNPR's match?" Rusty asked.

Indigo returned the hat to her head. "Yeah. I was just thinking about the thing I took from Eclipse."

"What about it?" Rusty asked.

"I want to seel it, but I can't find any information on what it is." Indigo explained. "I don't even know what material it's made from, or how much it cost."

"Looks like it might be Trux." Rusty replied. "It's a rare material some people use to make Synthetic Grimm mounts, like the one in Port's office."

"How much does that cost?" Indigo asked.

"Well, it's one of the scarciest materials on the Remnant, so a lot." Rusty answered. "My uncle bought a Beowolf statue made out of the stuff."

"You talk about your uncle a lot." Indigo noted.

"I know him better than I know my own father." Rusty sighed. "What's your parents like?"

"I never knew them." Indigo responded. "Let's just go before we miss the fight."

"Oh right!" Rusty realized.

He and Indigo started running. "No running in the halls!" A student shouted.


	8. Do your research

**Volume 5 is finally here. Now we get to see Haven. And the team RWBY is getting reunited. I think.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"What do you want now?" The woman asked angrily._

 _"I need your help." The General answered._

 _"If you're asking me for help, then it's already to late. Have fun dying." The woman snarked._

 _"It might not be. They attempted to steal one of the Maiden's powers, but they were only partially successful." The General explained._

 _"You're delaying the inevitable." The Woman warned._

 _"No. I'm doing everything I can to make sure they never get a second chance." The General countered._

...

Dr. Rifleman observed information on Eclipse's database. "You have a massive wealth of information." Dr. Rifleman commented.

"Dr. Apollo and Damascus Steele are adept at acquiring and using information." Dr. Artemis replied.

"You don't say. I never knew Dr. Merlot owned an island." Heliotrope interjected.

"Wait, half of Umbra's test subjects died?!" Rifleman exclaimed. "How much life insurance money does Onyx's family have?"

"Jay, where are you on finding Onyx Rider?" Dr. Artemis asked.

"I'm planning on drawing him out. Make him come to me, so I don't have to waste any energy. Energy is very important." Heliotrope answered. His scroll started vibrating. Heliotrope picked it up and looked at a message. "Looks like I'm needed somewhere else." Heliotrope walked out of the room quickly.

"If I were you, I'd move Black Ghost to another location." Dr. Rifleman warned.

"Why is that?" Dr. Artemis asked.

"Because I think Damascus might have pissed off the wrong member of the Atlesian council." Dr. Rifleman answered.

...

"Looks like they're inside the main building. No secret sub-basement this time." Camo observed an abandoned research facility outside of Vale. It was made up of several small structures, surrounded by a security fence. The facility belongs to Cloverfield Labs. Although the property was available for purchase, but no one has been interested in buying it.

"Does your Rider sense tell you how many guards they have, too?" Limone asked. He wasn't familiar with the other Ghosts, or the Riders. He usually doesn't get involved in their affairs.

"Something's wrong. Rifleman and 0-2 are here, but Apollo and Damascus aren't." Camo answered. Camo was wearing Teal Aquamarine's armor, and carrying the weapons.

"You're not very good at saying yes." Limone retorted. Limone was clad in a similar, yellow colored armor.

"They could have split up. Make it harder to find both of them." Anna Sage suggested. Onyx's Niece wore a black top that exposed her lower chest with a green skirt. Her skirt was surrounded by black armor with an overlapping layer pattern. Her right shoulder and knees were protected by similar armor.

"Unlikely. According to Aquamarine, they only separate when someone finds something important to their research." Camo explained. _Or so Aquamarine has told me._

"What could be more important than Kelly?" Limone asked.

...

"I would like to speak with General Ironwood." Damascus requested. He placed his hand on the console, and his eyes glowed red.

"Please hold." The computer instucted. It played casual music to ease the mood.

"How are we going to find one of the relics?" Apollo asked.

"My uncle owned a Beowolf statue made of Trux. What else do you know that is made of Trux?" Damascus asked.

"Your uncle owned a relic?" Apollo asked.

"One unbound to any living Rider." Damascus answered. The Rider's relics bound themselves to their users souls.

"General Ironwood could not be reached. Would you like to leave a message?" The computer asked.

"No. I think I'll tell him in person." Damascus replied.

"Thank you." The computer returned to it's default screen.

...

Indigo and Rusty enter the stadium, as the match between Team JNPR and Team BRNZ has already started.

"What took you so long?" Yang asked.

"We had to stop because they wouldn't let Rusty take his legs with him." Indigo explained.

"They count under accessories, AND prosthetics." Rusty insisted that Steelemarch counts under both of the exceptions to the policies against carrying weapons in the stands. The guards argued otherwise. Rusty won the argument.

"I liked it better when I had a partner to help me deal with those two." Viridian admitted.

"Is Grey okay?" Ruby asked.

"He's just missing all the fun." Indigo answered calmly. She removed her hat for a brief moment.

"Is that what I think it is?" Blake asked, fixated on Indigo's hat.

"One of the Relics of the Riders." Weiss confirmed.

"Nice try, but I'm not getting conned. I already looked up this thing, and it's worthless." Indigo countered.

"Most people don't even know the Riders are real." Yang responded.

"Then how would you know?" Viridian questioned.

"We've actually met one." Ruby responded.

"I will believe it when I see him." Indigo replied.

"He's...kinda dead." Ruby said, trailing off.

"He's Onyx Rider. That's why you don't talk about him much." Viridian concluded, from bits of other conversations.

"Yep." Yang confirmed.

"I still think this is a con." Indigo repeated.

...


	9. Friendly conversations

**I'm really enjoying coming up with new characters for Camo to beat up.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"The Riders are a legendary race that once ruled over Remnant." The woman explained._

 _"Why are they important?" The boy asked._

 _"Because all legends are built from some version of the truth." The Woman answered. "The original eight Riders were Lux, Somnium, Trion, Pallium, Quaestio, Anima, Umbra, and Onychinus."_

...

"Onyx Rider won't be a threat. I have every criminal in Vale waiting for the chance to destroy him." Jay Heliotrope reported. A jellyfish Grimm sent his message to Salem.

"Good I trust that you will destroy him before the attack." Salem responded.

"Even better. I gave him a reason to come to ne." Jay Heliotrope replied. "I threatened to use my criminal army to attack Vale if he doesn't. And I'll use them anyway if he does. Those hero types are predictable like that."

"Make certain that there is no chance of his survival." Salem ordered.

...

"General Ironwood. It's good to see you again." Damascus quickly reintroduced himself.

"Damascus Steele. And you've brought your associate, Sol Apollo." General Ironwood commented. _This is terrible timing._ "Now isn't the best time for a conversation. Perhaps I can schedule an appointment for you to meet me on my airship."

"A great idea. I was interested in asking questions about the Chaos Projector." Damascus responded.

"I know how this works. You'll keep coming back with more requests." Ironwood growled.

"Perhaps if Atlas were to give me control of it's research divisions, it might be easier to send you requests." Apollo suggested. "It would be nice to have my old job back."

"We'll discuss the details during the meeting. In the meantime, you should enjoy the Vytal Festival." Ironwood replied. _Hopefully, Camo will take care of this soon._

...

Camo carefully snuck around Eclipse's guards. Although he was invisible to the eye, he could still be detected by other senses.

Timber Fenris, a wolf Faunus sniffed the air. "There's something out there. Smells like the traitor." Timber warned. His Faunus trait gave him sharp teeth, which he has used in combat. He wore brown boots, blue overalls, a black bennie, and a red flannel shirt. He had a long gray beard, trimmed carefully. His weapon was a combination of a buzzsaw and an ax.

"Good. I was lookin' forward to killing that yellow traitor." Redd Barnes replied, as he cocked his shotgun-pitchfork. He wore a red shirt with an unbuttoned buttoned collar, and brown jeans.

"I'm pretty sure he was green." Timber noted.

"Actually, he was blue. Which makes him just as untrustworthy." Barnes responded.

"Everyone be alert! Threat level orange." Honeybell T'Angelo ordered. She wore an orange top that exposed her cleavage. She wore green cargo pants and orange boots. She had an orange bob haircut. Her belt held several Dust powered grenades.

"Ah, fuck. It's T'Angelo." Limone recognized her voice.

"You know her?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, she's one of my seven evil exes." Limone answered. "Her semblance lets her paralyze people she touches."

"As opposed to your..." Anna paused so Limone could finish the sentence.

"The ability to give absolute zero fucks about other people." Limone replied sarcastically.

"That's not an ability. That's a personality trait." Anna corrected.

"Well, I don't usually answer that question on the first date." Limone responded, maintaining his sarcastic tone.

"This is not a date." Anna spoke in a slightly threatening tone.

"I see you have that trait, too." Limone retorted.

"I can still hear you." Camo reminded. "And it doesn't sound like you're watching their patrols."

"I'm multitasking." Limone replied.

"That's a first." Camo commented. Limone was known for a lack of initiative.

"Did we bring anyone here that isn't a sociopath?" Limone asked.

...

That last match was intense." Indigo said. He and his team were returning to Beacon.

"What about Team SNNN vs NDGO?" Rusty asked.

"It was close, but it wasn't Cardin-Winchester-taking-on-an-entire-team-close." Indigo replied.

"But what about Neptune's fear of the ocean?" Rusty asked.

"Entire team, Rusty. Entire. Team." Indigo repeated.

"There's a fight." Viridian interrupted. He ran towards a battle between Qrow Branwen and Winter Schnee. A crowd was gathering to watch the unexpected fight.

"Should we do something?" Rusty asked.

"No, I want to see where this going." Indigo answered.

Viridian stared. _Why is he here?_


	10. Hostile encounters

**I did it! I finally brought in Qrow. One of several things I've been waiting to do in this volume. Mainly because of this flashback. Qrow opens up a lot of the backstory. I also have new theories about Qrow, but I won't talk about them right now because spoilers.**

 **This is another chapter I had fun making. I played Metal Gear Solid 5 to come up with some of this. Cqc, stealth, and the elaborate trolling of your enemies.**

 **...**

* * *

 _A young boy traveled stealthily through bushes. He observed a hooded girl fighting creatures of Grimm._

 _"What are you doing around here, Viridian?" A teacher asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere._

 _Viridian jumped in surprise. "Mr. Branwen?!" He exclaimed._

 _"Answer the the question." Qrow ordered._

 _"I overheard you talking to Ruby about something in the woods. I wanted to know what you were doing." Viridian answered._

 _Qrow chuckled. "You're just like your mother."_

 _"You knew my mother?" Viridian asked._

 _"Yep. Doctor Know-it-all. She was always curious. And a little bit on the creepy side." Qrow answered._

 _"I'm not creepy." Viridian countered._

 _"You're following a little girl around the woods. Looks pretty creepy to me." Qrow replied._

 _"I was investigating." Viridian insisted._

 _"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Qrow mused._

...

Qrow left Professor Ozpin's office through the elevator. "What are you doing around here?" Viridian asked.

"Last I checked, I can do whatever I want with my freetime." Qrow avoided answering the question. _He's angrier than I remember._

"So you just randomly showed up and picked a fight with one of General Ironwood's top specialists." Viridian asked sarcastically.

"I was drunk." Qrow justified. "Why do you care?" _It's like his mother all over again._

"I have Atlas specialists looking for me. They sent other students, other Huntsmen, Onyx Rider. The only reason they haven't done anything is because something else is distracting them." Viridian explained.

"Onyx Rider? How did Camo recruit him?" Qrow questioned.

"Who's Camo?" Viridian asked.

"Stay away from him. Forrest Camo is a dangerous man." Qrow warned.

...

Camo placed a sniper into a chokehold, and knocked out the unsuspecting guard. He slowly laid the body near a ladder to the rooftop.

"Well if it isn't the goddamn traitor." Redd aimed his shotgun at Camo.

Camo revealed himself as he turned around slowly with his hands up. "You had lunch yet?" Camo asked.

"Pardon?" Redd was confused by the random question. Camo quickly rushed forward, grabbing the shotgun and tossing it aside. Camo punched Redd in the stomach. Before he could recover, Redd was tackled into a wall. Redd collasped to the ground, attempting to crawl towards his weapon. Camo kicked the weapon away and lifted up Redd over his shoulders. Camo dropped Redd off the rooftop, causing him to smash through the top of a dumpster.

"What was that?" T'Angelo asked. She walked towards the dumpster.

Camo broke the barrel off of the sniper's rifle, and tossed it towards some nearby bushes. T'Angelo grabbed a grenade and walked towards it slowly. Camo tossed the rifle's magazine at a guard. T'Angelo instinctively threw the grenade towards the sound of the noise, trapping the guard in Ice Dust. Camo fired at one of T'Angelo's pocketed grenades, causing her to become trapped in Ice Dust as well.

"There you are." Timber announced. He started rushing towards the ladder. As he climbed up the ladder, the body of the sniper was kicked down. He was knocked off the ladder by the unconscious body, and fell back to the ground. Camo dropped down with Redd's pitchfork, and used it to block Timber's jaws. Camo placed his foot on Timber's throat, and fired an Ice Dust shot to freeze the weapon in Timber's mouth. As Timber struggled to break the ice above his mouth, Camo froze Timber's arms and legs to keep him trapped.

Camo waited until Timber passed out before shattering the ice over Timber's mouth and retrieving Redd's weapon. Camo picked up Timber's ax as well. Camo smashed the ax into the wooden barricade blocking the a hole in the side of building. He used the buzzsaw to cut through the the wooden barricade.

"Teal Aquamarine. How nice of you to voluneer yourself for Project Black Ghost." Sunny Reyes, and Eclipse scientist, greeted Camo. He was bald, wearing orange sunglasses that concealed his eyes. Little was known about Reyes, other than his work primarily being focused on Eclipse's Black Ghost project. "We haven't had any in quite some time. You should meet the last test volunteer." Sunny pushed a button, opening a cage.

A half-man, half-Grimm hybrid experiment with oversized arms walked out of the cage. His arms and torso were disproportionately large compared with the rest of his body. His knuckles to drag across the ground as he walked. The white bone-like armor around his knuckles created sparks on the metal floor as he moved. His legs looked twisted, as if they were about to collapse. The hybrid roared angrily at Camo, who stared into it's glowing red eyes.

"Anna." Camo ordered. Anna Sage slashed at the back of the large beast with her katana, Empress Swallow. It turned to face her, only to have one of it's eyes slashed. The hybrid swung it's fist at Anna, who jumped out of the way.

Camo chased after Sunny, who ran down a flight stairs leading towards the basement. A doorway closed, blocking the path. "They should have upgraded the security." Silicon approached the door. He used his semblance to liquifying the door.

"Help Anna. I'll take Limone to investigate inside." Camo ordered.

"We won't be far behind." Silicon turned back, and transformed his weapon into a spear.


	11. Think of the possibilities

**I have good news. One character who died in Volume 3 is getting saved in this story. But it will come at a great cost. A soul will be destroyed. Someone's legs will be broken. And another eye will be blinded. That is the price of the one life I chose to save.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"What do you want?" Qrow asked._

 _Camo showed Qrow a photo. "I'm looking for this kid."_

 _"Is he yours or Aquamarine's?" Qrow asked._

 _"This isn't a family matter. He has powers. Powers that make him dangerous." Camo growled._

 _"Then shouldn't you be out recruiting him?" Qrow asked._

 _"He's too dangerous to let live. Rifleman created him with the purpose of disrupting our entire organization." Camo explained._

 _"Are you sure the paranoia isn't getting to you?" Qrow questioned. "You should probably see a doctor about that."_

 _"You think this is a joke? He's a threat to everything we're trying to protect!" Camo shouted._

 _"I think you're overreacting. He's just a kid. He probably doesn't know or care about us. So let's just try to keep it that way." Qrow responded._

...

Sunny Reyes ran through an advanced security door, and used a nearby keypad to activate an alarm. The door was locked off. "The Ghosts have arrived." Reyes warned.

"Which Ghosts? How many?" Dr. Rifleman asked.

"I saw Teal Aquamarine, and Anna Sage." Reyes answered.

The door behind Sunny Reyes started liquifying. "It appears Charles Silicon is with them as well." Dr. Rifleman observed. Reyes grabbed her arm and dragged her across the halls.

"We need to protect Project Black Ghost." Sunny Reyes explained.

"I already took care of that." Dr. Rifleman replied.

"What? How?" Sunny Reyes questioned.

"Don't worry about it." Dr. Rifleman caught Redd's pitchfork, which was tossed towards Sunny Reyes leg. She fired the shotgun at Camo without looking at him. The blast knocked Camo into a wall.

"Dr. Rifleman, this is your only opportunity to surrender. I strongly suggest that you take it." Silicon warned.

"Thanks for the offer Charles, but I believe your brother has other plans." Dr. Rifleman replied.

Silicon pointed his spear at her. "This doesn't have to come to violence." He warned.

"I can't imagine any possible future where I surrender and keep my life. I think I'll take my chances with violence." Dr. Rifleman responded.

"You're not our main target. We need Damascus Steele." Silicon replied.

Dr. Rifleman rolled her eyes. "As if Forest gives a damn about what General Ironwood wants." She scoffed. Rifleman aimed Redd's weapon at them.

"He never told me not to kill you." Camo noted. He dived forward, tackling Sunny Reyes. He turned to fire ice Dust crystals at Rifleman. Rifleman performed a sweeping kick on Silicon, knocking the teacher into the ice Dust. Silicon fell to the floor, trapped.

"As much as I'd like to fight you, I think a few of your old friends would like a word first." Rifleman fired at a door, causing it to open. Sandy Storm and Trolley Carr walked through.

...

"Carnival games. You know these things are usually rigged, right?" Indigo asked, as she and Rusty joined team JNPR at the Vytal Festival.

"That's what makes them fun. Battling the odds until you run out of Lien." Jaune replied.

"I don't happen to have some money we can borrow." Nora asked.

"I expect upfront returns on all my investments." Rusty replied. _Now you sound like Damascus._

"Can I just write an "I owe you"?" Nora asked.

"No one said it has to be cash. I also take favors, sodas, and friendship." Rusty responded.

"Any of you tried asking Weiss? She's probably got limitless spending." Indigo noted.

"Nope. She couldn't even afford noodles!" Nora exclaimed.

"Nora!" Ren shouted.

"What?" Nora asked.

"I don't think Weiss would appreciate you talking about what happened." Pyrrha warned.

"Come on, now I have to know!" Indigo exclaimed. "We're all friends here. Friends don't keep secrets from each other." Being from Vacuo, Indigo has very little experience supporting this idea.

"Pyrrha had to buy some noodles for RWBY after Weiss's credit card was declined." Nora explained.

"Why was Ruby using Weiss's credit card?" Rusty asked.

"Team RWBY." Jaune corrected.

"Follow up question. How does a Schnee run out of money?" Indigo asked. All of them couldn't stop thinking about it.

"This is none of our business. We shouldn't get involved." Ren noted.

"This is serious. What if she's being blackmailed, or robbed, or something?" Indigo reminded, with concern in her voice.

"And now you know why I don't just give away money." Rusty replied.

"We need to find whoever is responsible for this." Jaune concluded.

"And break his legs?" Nora asked.

"Probably." Jaune answered.

"What if Weiss hasn't told us anything because she doesn't want our help?" Pyrrha asked.

"She doesn't need to know we're helping her." Indigo replied. Pyrrha wanted to protest, but she's already done something similar.


	12. Information is key

**For those of you who skipped Project Eclipse, or simply don't remember, Sandy Storm and Trolley Carr were Atlas students Camo recruited and sent to spy on Viridian, along with an amnesiac Rocky Rhodes and Electricity Steele. They were lost in the Emerald Forrest after a fight, and they're probably not very happy about it.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Oh come on!" A young Limone Y'lo punched a vending machine._

 _"Is there a problem?" The equally youthful Forrest Camo joined him. The two were wearing Atlas Student uniforms, as they were just outside of Atlas Academy._

 _"The stupid vending machine just jammed my snack." Limone answered. "It's a machine. It has one job. How can it mess up it's one job!" Limone ranted._

 _"All machines inevitably fail as their parts degrade overtime." Kelly Rifleman answer. "That's why we always perform weapon checks."_

 _"Isn't that what Gunmetal Industries is for?" Limone asked._

 _"So you'd rather pay money for something you can do yourself?" Camo asked rhetorically._

 _"Yes." Limone answered flatly. He continued banging on the machine._

 _"Let me help you with that." Rifleman offered. She kicked the machine. However, it did not move the snack the machine._

 _"Wow. That was real helpful." Limone spoke completely deadpan._

 _"Wait for it." Rifleman instructed._

 _"Having trouble with the vending machine?" Teal Aquamarine appeared quickly. "Watch this." He quickly ran towards the other end of the hall, and turned back. "Running jump kick!" Aquamarine shouted, as he jump kicked the vending machine. It shattered the glass, causing the snacks to fall out of the machine. "Ow! My leg!" Aquamarine yelled, and he grabbed his leg to make sure it wasn't broken._

 _"See, now you have all of the snacks you could ask for." Rifleman pointed out._

 _"That was a coincidence." Camo noted._

 _"Coincidences aren't always accidental." Rifleman replied._

...

Sandy Storm used a cloud of dust to reduce visibility inside the hallway. Trolley Carr's perform a pole vault, quickly swinging his collapsible staff. Despite being blinded, Camo caught the staff. Carr quickly used his arms to redirect his body, allowing him to kick Camo without losing momentum. "You're pretty acrobatic for a fat kid." Camo commented. Carr's torso was disproportionately large compared with the rest of his body.

Anna jump kicked Carr, and struck him with her katana while he was still being knocked away by the kick. Carr backflipped as he landed, and closed his staff. He split his closed staff into dual sai. Carr ran forward and used both of his sai to force Anna's weapon to the ground, while flipping the rest of his body in a handspring to kick her in the face. Anna slid back and aimed her hand. "Combustion shards." Anna fired a scarlet fireball which shattered into several other blasts that scattered across the room. Sandy was indirectly hit by the explosions, causing the cloud to clear.

Carr's shirt was destroyed, revealing a massive turtle shell as the source of his unusal size. "Turtle faunus? Didn't know those were a thing." Limone observed, as he entered the hallway. Carr readjusted his weapon, turning them into nunchucks. When Limone fired a grenade, Carr deflected it towards Anna and Camo, and performed a backwards handspring to escape the explosion that collapsed the hallway.

...

"Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"

"Call my brother, Damascus Steele." Rusty answered. His eyes glowed a grayish-blue.

"Please hold." Instead of connecting the call, a stream of code displayed on the screen. The screen changed to a credit card company database.

Rusty read the card holdernames. "Winter Schnee, Whitley Schnee, and there she is." He opened the cards information. "That's odd." The screen changed to connecting the call.

"Who is this?" Damascus asked.

"I just want you to know that dad still thinks you're dead." Rusty answered calmly.

"Really? And why haven't you told him?" Damascus asked.

"Because if you ever touch one of my friends again, that'll change." Rusty shifted to a threatening tone.

"I don't think the robot counts as a friend. More like a puppet." Damascus commented. "Did General Ironwood use his puppet to send you after me?"

"I just happened to be at the CCT, when I noticed that someone else has been tampering with the CCT." Rusty explained.

"You sure it wasn't Ellie? Or does she prefer by Olivia?" Damascus asked, nonchalantly.

"I can see our Semblances signature." Rusty noted.

"So you saw exactly what I saw in Ironwood's puppet." Damascus replied.

"No, we just looked at the same picture. We have very different interpretations of what it means." Rusty answered.

"You see that souls are exactly what Uncle Roni told us. Programming for humanity." Damascus responded. "I probably shouldn't be talking on the phone and driving. I'll call you back." Damascus used his Semblance to cause the CCT terminate to shutdown remotely.

"The soul is programming." Rusty remarked, before he left.

...

"You're sure this guy knows anything?" Viridian asked.

"Yeah, probably." Yang answered. "Actually, now that you meantion it, he's never actually told me anything important, but then again I never actually payed him. But their Strawberry Sunrise is amazing."

"You brought me out here so you can get a free drink." Viridian realized.

"Yeah, pretty much." Yang admitted. Gunshots were fired before Yang could even park.

"If you don't turn that noise down, I'm going to show you what happened to Cappuccino's nephew." An angry neighbor shouted.

"Was that Onyx Rider?" Viridian asked.

"No. I think he's new here." Yang replied. She opened the Door to Hei Xiong's night club.

"Well this day keeps getting better and better." Xiong complained.

"My friend wants to find someone, and I'm thirsty." Yang explained.

"Get her something special." Xiong ordered. The Bartender prepared a drink.

"I'm looking for Forrest Camo. If you don't know anything, I'm leaving." Viridian stated.

"Camo?" Yang repeated.

"Do you kids think I know every person on Remnant by name?" Xiong asked rhetorically.

"I think he already came here to ask you where he can find Viridian Virdis." Viridian answered.

"I don't keep track of clients information. It's part of how I run my business." Xiong explained. "Now get out of here. I have my own problems to deal with."

"He was here." Viridian said. "You're planning on telling him I was here."

"You ever heard of Client confidentiality? I'm not supposed to talk about their business. End of story." Xiong growled.

"So you run a nightclub and an information brokering business. And I guess the gunmen you loaned to Roman Torchwick would belong to a personal security business." Viridian noted. "You don't look like someone rich enough to afford running multiple businesses. Unless some of them aren't registered."

"What are you going to do? Call the police?" Xiong asked.

"As a Huntsman in training, I'd be obligated to arrest you myself." Viridian answered. "That would involve a lot of fighting, which would make a lot of noise and annoy your very angry neighbor."

"I don't know who he is. He just came asking about Viridis. I didn't know anything, I so I didn't tell him anything. He got mad, and your friend can finish the story for you." Xiong explained. "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to run a nightclub without waking the Rider."

"That's not Onyx. If it was Onyx, he would have come over by now." Yang answered. "We should probably get going." Yang dragged Virdian out of the nightclub.

"I was going to order a drink." Viridian spoke.

...


	13. Foresight is 20-20

**These episodes are crazy. I totally called Leo working for Salem. My brother has to recon some stuff from Age of Chaos. I am now hoping someone write a fanfic about Yang joining Salem because of Ruby dying during the Initiation. I might write it myself after Volume 5 is over.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Eclipse is a threat to all of Remnant." Camo explained._

 _"They're a bunch of scientists poking at our past. We can handle them." Onyx replied._

 _"You're not taking this seriously. The things they're planning, they could create a second Umbra. If Viridian isn't that powerful already." Camo warned._

 _"We took care of Umbra. We can handle this." Onyx reassured._

...

Anna created a domed shield to protect Limone, Silicon, Reyes and Sandy Storm from the collapsing cieling.

"You don't use explosives in a closed space, Idiot!" Anna shouted.

"Didn't you use explosive blasts five seconds ago?" Limone reminded.

"Those weren't strong enough to break the ceiling." Anna replied.

"It's not my fault I don't have your magic Rider powers." Limone shrugged.

"It's not magic." Anna noted.

"I guess I'm the only one concerned about the collapsing ceiling above us." Silicon lamented. He used his semblance to melt and soldidify the damaged cieling.

"We're going to have to find another way to Dr. Rifleman." Anna noted.

"Did Camo die?" Limone asked.

"I still feel his aura. He's somewhere inside the building." Silicon answered.

...

Camo ran through the hallways, following Dr. Rifleman's path. He was led to abandoned train tunnels now occupied by the Grimm. These tunnels were recently damaged by Roman Torchwick's Dust Train, which caused a number of Grimm to inhabit the dark areas. Dr. Rifleman boarded an Eclipse Gunship that was already beginning takeoff. Camo fired at the rising Bullhead, with little effect.

Trolley Carr swung his nunchucks at Camo, who quickly turned and caught the weapons. Carr performed a flipkick to push Camo back. Carr adjusted his weapons to form two swords. Camo caught the first with Aquamarine's weapon, and the second with his free hand. Camo pulled Carr closer for a headbutt. Carr fell to his knees. Camo kicked Carr to the ground, and stepped on his throat to choke him.

Why are you helping Eclipse?" Camo asked.

Carr struggled to form words while he was choking. Camo moved his foot, allowing Carr to breathe. "Why didn't you tell Rocky that he worked for Eclipse?" Carr asked.

"He didn't need to know." Camo answered.

"You were using us." Carr growled. "You probably weren't even going to keep your end of the bargain."

"And Eclipse is any different?" Camo asked.

"They already told me where my father was." Carr answered. "I'm only working for them because I owe them for it."

"You're never paying off that debt." Camo stomped on Carr's head, knocking him out.

...

"Everyone into position." T'Angelo asked. The Eclipse mercenaries outside the facility set up an ambush. Several of them hid in bushes and tall grass. T'Angelo climbed a ladder. When she reached the top of the building, she saw a flash of lightning crash into her. T'Angelo fell off of the rooftop, and the mercenaries on the ground were blinded. When their vison recovered, they saw Aurum Light and his companion, Emeric Macaw, standing on the rooftop.

Light wore his new combat armor, which was similar to Jay Heliotrope's. A black jumpsuit with white armor. The armor had gold highlights. His belt was silver, with a white buckle bearing an insignia different from Heliotrope's. His chest armor covered most of his torso, and connected directly to his shoulder pauldrons. A thin cape reaching his ankles was connected to his shoulder armor. His helmets visior was designed differently, curving in a V shaped pattern, with rows of vertical eye slits.

Macaw wore a different outfit. He had baggy pants tucked into brown leather boots. The boots were covered by Trux armored greaves. He also had armor plates for chest, back and shoulder armor made from the same material. A brown robe was worn underneath the armor, held in place by a brown leather belt. The belt's buckle was made of Trux. A brown leather bandolier, wrapping around his right shoulder and left hip, held a large axe on his back. Fingerless black gloves connected directly to his gauntlets, which were reinforced by Trux vambraces.

Both of them jumped off the rooftop and turned to watch Anna, Silicon, and Limone exit the building. "You're late to the party. We already checked inside. Looks like they were packing their things when we got here." Limone explained.

"We arrived at the exact time Camo requested. You started the battle without us." Light replied.

"How did Eclipse have know we were coming?" Macaw asked.

"Rifleman's semblance is Foresight. She can see the future." Limone replied, nonchalant.

"Did Camo lack the foresight to antipate her using this against us?" Macaw growled.

"Her ability is not without limits. She can only foresee the future based on her knowledge of the past and present." Silicon explained.

"Which is why Camo engaged earlier than scheduled." Anna added. "Rifleman must have learned that Ironwood had reason to send us here, and took precautions."

"Which would mean she's most likely using a convenient escape route." Silicon noted. "I suspect the nearby train tunnels. Roman Torchwick left several openings to hide airships."

"Then we should move quickly." Light ordered.

"You're not goin' anywhere." Redd noted. He cracked his knuckles, as he and the other Eclipse Mercenaries surrounded the Ghosts.


	14. Comprimise

**You might have noticed my brothers work on the new logo. Yeah, he was supposed to give me it in 2017, but I didn't get it until months after it was finished. But other than that, we're working with a lot of his characters. He literally handed me entire teams, and asked me to use them. So, we've got plenty of characters.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"I don't see what's so interesting about the Grimm." Camo spoke._

 _"They're not just mindless brutes. They have some kind of intelligence behind their actions." Rifleman explained._

 _"And they use it to find more ways kill us." Camo replied._

 _"And you don't want toknow why? They don't kill for survival, and they only attack humans. This isn't random behavior. It's part of a clear pattern." Rifleman noted._

 _"They enjoy killing people. So do other humans. What's the point?" Camo asked._

 _"It's almost as if they live to kill humans. As if someone created them for that sole purpose."_

 _"Created how? With Magic?" Camo questioned._

 _..._

T'Angelo tossed a grenade behind Limone. Limone was blasted towards her. T'Angelo caught him, using her Semblance to disable him. She attached a sticky grenade to Limone's armor and pushed him away. Limone pulled the grenade of and tossed it back at T'Angelo.

Emeric Macaw swung his ax over his head, forcing Redd to duck. Macaw quickly followed by spinning his ax over his head to perform a low swinging attack. Redd jumped over the ax, leaving him open to the following overhead slam. As Redd attempted to get up, another swing from Macaw's ax swept his legs. Macaw slammed the ax on the ground front of Redd, catapulting him into the air.

Timber Fenris used his teeth to bite Silicon's hand, and used his hands to grab Silicon's arm and swing him into a wall. Silicon used his free hand to turn the ground Fenris was standing on into water, causing him to sink quickly. He turned the water into quicksand, trapping Fenris in the ground. "Don't struggle. It won't help you." Silicon warned.

...

Anna and Light reached a large hole in the ground. Camo climbed out with Carr over his shoulder. "Rifleman already had a Bullhead ready for her escape." Camo explained.

"Could it have been avoided?" Light asked.

"Based on her reactions, she probably suspected we were coming." Camo answered.

"And what of Damascus Steele?" Light questioned.

"He wasn't here. He's probably with Dr. Apollo." Camo replied.

"The question is what could draw his attention." Anna noted.

Camo recieved a call from his scroll. "Yes?" He answered.

"Forrest, you need to get to my airship now." General Ironwood ordered.

"Do you still have a lock on Rifleman's location?" Camo asked.

"Damascus Steele and Sol Apollo are going to meet me aboard my airship." General Ironwood informed. "I'm going to handle them myself. Finish Eclipse and report back to me."

"I'm close to Rifleman's position. If you give me the coordinates, I can end this now." Camo said.

"Eclipse is the main target. Not Rifleman. You can't return without Dr. Artemis." Ironwood reminded.

"Rifleman is too dangerous to ignore." Camo noted.

"Without Eclipse, she'll be in no position to do any immediate damage." Ironwood replied. Camo's scroll received the coordinates and marked it on his map. "You have your orders." Ironwood ended the call.

"Light, find the others and update them on the situation. Anna, search the area in case Dr. Artemis decided to change paths." Camo ordered. He opened a portal, allowing him to travel from the outskirts of Vale to General Ironwood's airship.

...

Dr. Rifleman stabbed her arm with an electric dust crystal, electrifying herself. "That should take care of the tracker."

"If you knew you were being tracked, why didn't you warn us?" Dr. Artemis asked.

"I didn't know I was bait until I saw what he wanted from you." Dr. Rifleman replied calmly, as she removed the crystal from her arm.

"He probably wants to keep the information Damascus blackmailed him with hidden." Dr. Artemis concluded.

"Of course he'll try. But the truth will come out eventually." Dr. Rifleman replied. _Whether they want it to, or not._

"Now that they can't track us, we should leave before the Ghost's have time to catch up." Dr. Artemis reminded.

...

Damascus Steele walked into an engine room. "You're not supposed to be here." A technician warned.

"Actually, you're not supposed to be here. You should get going before I have to throw you off the airship." Damascus replied coldly.

"Wait outside." Ironwood instructed, as he entered the same room. The technician reluctantly obeyed.

"I apologize that Dr. Apollo couldn't join us." Damascus explained Apollo's absence.

"I didn't come here to negotiate. I came to arrest you." Ironwood explained.

"Well, at least I have an interesting story to tell my fellow inmates in prison." Damascus replied. He was already picturing the encounters in his mind. _"What are you in for?" "I discovered a top secret military weapon disguised as a teenaged girl, and used it to blackmail the Headmaster of Atlas Academy."_

"Did Dr. Rifleman tell you where I was keeping her before I brought her to Vale?" Ironwood asked. "I'm going to send you to a place just like it."

"You'll try." Damascus drew his Dust emitting sword, and thrusted it forwards. Ironwood used his right hand to cover the Dust emitter. Unable to form the blade, the weapon built up pressure and exploded.

...


	15. Confrontation

**This was originally going to be part of last chapter, but then I worried it might get too long, so i split it. Then I forgot to upload last chapter, which is why both ended up late.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"You're trying to recreate the Umbra Agency's work?" Camo approached Dr. Rifleman._

 _"The Umbra Agency existed for a reason. Remnant is in greater danger than you realize." Dr. Rifleman justified._

 _"Experimenting on children isn't the answer!" Camo shouted._

 _"Experimenting would imply I didn't already know how to acheive my desired results beforehand." Dr. Rifleman corrected._

 _"You already created one." Camo realized._

 _..._

"General ironwood, sir!" The technician reentered the room, startled by the explosion. He used a semblance identical to Damascus. The explosion pushed the two away from each other. General Ironwood's right glove was destroyed, revealing a robotic hand. The remainder of his clothes were unscathed. Damascus had destroyed his suit jacket,

Damascus rushed forwards, grabbing Ironwood's right hand, and used his semblance to disable it. Ironwood used his free hand to shove Damascus away from him. The technician touched General Ironwood's arm, and his eyes glowed green as he reactivated it.

"Another Steele?" Damascus observed. "Rainbow hair. You're Bismuth Steele."

bismuth Steele revealed an inactive weapon. "Damascus, come quietly, or you will be brought to justice."

"That's never going to happen." Damascus countered. "General Ironwood would much rather keep me hidden in a black-site, where the population can never learn about all the classified information I stole."

"You've left me no choice, brother." The technician replied. He activated his weapon.

"What is that? A four-headed hammer?" Damascus questioned.

"It's a double-headed wrench." The technician answered.

"You're going to fight me with a giant hammer?" Damascus asked.

"Wrench." The technician repeated.

"Yes. Because unlike you, he has loyalty." General Ironwood answered.

"And what is loyalty worth?" Damascus asked. Damascus threw a Dust Disk at Ironwood. "All trust gets you is betrayal."

The disk was deflected by the Bismuth's wrench. "Loyalty is worth more than you think, Damascus." Ironwood replied. General Ironwood fired at Damascus, who used a different disk to defend.

Damascus pushed a button on the disk, uncurling half of the disk into a blade. He jumped forward, swinging his sword towards Bismuth's left and right progressively faster. Bismuth blocked each strike. Damascus suddenly switched to using his left arm to grab Bismuth's weapon, while stabbing at his right. Bismuth dodged his blade, and used a kick to knock Damascus off-balance. Damascus used his blade to balance himself while he used both of his legs to kick Bismuth away from him.

"After I escape, I think I'll expose your secret to the public. Maybe even on live television." Damascus concluded. Although he lacked Rifleman's ability to foresee the future, he could still envision the resulting confusion. _"Atlas is creating robots disguised as humans? For what purpose? To spy on the people of remnant? To replace them? Is General James Ironwood really someone you'd trust with the most powerful military force on Remnant?"_

"That's never going to happen!" Bismuth countered. He swung his wrench at Damascus, who blocked before turning around to block gunfire from Ironwood, who had flanked him. Damascus spun to sweep kick Bismuth's legs. Bismuth jumped backwards, and thrusted his weapon forwards. It clamped the wrench's grips, allowing Bismuth to use it to pin Damascus against a wall.

"That's a claw, not a hammer!" Damascus shouted.

"I said it's a wrench!" Bismuth repeated. Damascus threw a Dust disk, which spun like a boomerang as it flew towards General Ironwood. Ironwood rolled out of the way. The weapon changed path, returning to blast Bismuth with an explosion of fire Dust. Before Damascus could react, General Ironwood punched him with his robot arm. Damascus was knocked against a wall.

"You think I can't take the both of you?" Damascus asked.

"I think you can't win against three of us." Ironwood responded. A white blur attacked Damascus. Winter Schnee pointed her sword to Damascus's neck.

"If that's how you want to play it." Damascus replied. He turned his weapon into a dual-bladed sword.

...

"So. General Ironwood is as predictable as Dr. Rifleman expected." Camo reached a mountain, where Dr. Artemis stood waiting for him. "I presume you've been ensure my capture." Dr. Artemis spoke.

Camo fired at Dr. Artemis. Two spheres made of concentrated energy flew rapidly to block the flying Dust crystals from Aquamarine's weapon. One of the spheres scattered into a barrage of five smaller spheres flying towards Camo. Camo jumped upwards, only to be intercepted by a flying kick from Dr. Artemis. Camo was knocked backwards, into one of the spheres he dodged. Artemis fired the second large sphere, sending Camo another of the smaller spheres. Dr. Artemis fired a blast from her finger, blasting Camo off the ground, and into another sphere. Camo was held in place by a Dr. Artemis's telekinetic ability. One of the two remaining spheres moved into position behind Camo. Dr. Artemis telekinetically pushed Camo into the blast. The blast rebounded him directly into Dr. Artemis's palm strike. The final blast flew towards Camo, knocking him back towards Dr. Artemis. Dr. Artemis telekinetically whirled Camo upwards, and halted him. She fired two blasts, one knocking Camo into the other. Camo quickly recovered, jumping off the ground and rushing forward, using his left arm to punch, following with two jump kicks, and a stab from Aquamarine's weapon. He followed up with a series of left handed punches, and a sweep kick. While Dr. Artemis was in the air, she fired a sphere. Camo used a jumping knee strike to close in while she was in midair, avoiding giving Dr. Artemis the advantage of range. He perform a downwards slashed, and fired Ice Dust crystals to freeze her on the ground before he landed feet first on top of her. The sphere returned, blasting Camo in the back. He rolled across the ground to recover, and held the weapon in blade mode. Camo charged forward, quickly switching modes to fire at Dr. Artemis. Dr. Artemis held her hand forward, creating a large sphere that consumed the Dust. The sphere rushed towards Camo. He leapt over the sphere, and slammed the weapon against Dr. Artemis, knocking her down, and breaking her aura's protective field.

"Where is Dr. Rifleman?" Camo asked, aiming his weapon at Dr. Artemis's leg.

"I'd say she's long gone by now. Your allies probably won't find her." Dr. Artemis replied.

"Don't underestimate them." Camo responded. "She might have predicted I'd send someone to follow her, but she can't have predicted who."

...

A flash of lightning returned Light to the facility. "Report." Light ordered.

"We've captured the Mercenaries." Macaw reported. "So far, they've been a lot more passive than you were."

"If by 'passive', you mean unconscious." Limone noted.

"Good. Camo and Anna are searching for the Doctors. We should hurry to assist them." Light explained.

"Well, I'm not sticking around to babysit these guys." Limone noted.

"Macaw and I will watch over the prisoners. You and Silicon should split up to find Camo and Anna." Light concluded.

"I'm checking on Camo, then." Limone responded. Silicon started running in Anna's direction, using his Aura Sense to find her. "Yeah, I don't have Aura Sense. Where is he?" Limone asked

"His location should be marked on your scrolls waypoint." Light explained.

Limone pulled out his scroll. "Uh, does anyone have a charger?" His scroll ran out of power.

"You can't be serious." Macaw spoke.

"I'm sorry, my semblance doesn't include the ability to power up machines by hand." Limone replied.

"Does your semblance do anything useful?" Macaw asked.

"Apparently not." Limone shrugged.

"Macaw, go with him. I can transport the prisoners faster alone." Light ordered. He created a portal, and grabbed T'Angelo and Timber.

"If I must." Macaw grunted. He pulled out is scroll, and pointed Limone in Camo's direction.

...

Anna ran directly up a cliff, vaulting to face the Eclipse Gunship. "So you're the one that found me first." Dr. Rifleman noted.

"Dr. Rifleman. Surrender, and this can end painlessly." Anna warned.

"I don't think you fully comprehend your current situation." Dr. Rifleman replied.

Anna glared. Then, she heard a weapon swinging in her direction. Anna jumped, narrowly dodging a flail. the flail created an gravity Dust explosion, knocking Anna into the air. The flail returned to a position to Anna's left, where a man in silver armor with green highlights stood.

His armor was similar to Jay Heliotrope's, with a black jumpsuit, silver armor with green highlights. Like the other similarly designed armors, it had a degree of uniqueness. His helmet had a mohawk-like design, with a forward facing blue light glowing in the center. Other parts of his armor possessed similar blue lighting. A leather strap held one of his shoulder pauldrons in place, and carried his scroll instead of his belt. His belt was also unique, containing several leather pouches. It was also connected to the green tassets surrounding his thighs. His armor was bulkier than the Jay's, to match his larger brutish body size.

"Are you Onyx Rider?" He asked.


	16. Are you Onyx Rider?

**Bismuth is a character I created a refrence towards the Ratchet and Clank series. If I were to create a 3d model for him, I would label it "Human Alister Azimuth Looking Motherfucker". That said, his personality is more based around Ratchet. He's someone who originally didn't want to become an Atlesian Specialist, but because of events in his past, he changed his mind. I might make a prequel going more into his story.**

 **The other guy is much bigger deal. My brother created him. When I reveal who his brother is, you'll understand.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"With Onyx gone, you're going to need to train twice as hard." Camo warned Anna._

 _"You think I don't already know that?!" Anna snapped._

 _"I'm just warning you, the way things have been going, we seem to be facing a stronger enemy every day." Camo explained._

 _"That's why I'm trying to get back to the level I was before Onyx destroyed the Resovoir." Anna explained. The destruction of the Resovoir of the Riders was what weakened the Riders._

 _"You need to become stronger than that. You need to unlock the second level of Verto." Camo concluded._

 _..._

"Are you Onyx Rider?" The large brute repeated.

"What do you think?" Anna asked. She readied her sword.

"I think you shouldn't answer a question with another question." He answered. "It's rude."

"Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" Another man asked. He had a thinner build than his companion. Like the brute, he wore armor over a black jumpsuit. His armor was silver colored, with yellow glowing lights on his gaunlets and chest. His breastplate connected to a large shoulder pauldron. He wore a bascinet helmet. His armor lacked the clothe around his tassets that the other wore. His belt was the same as Heliotrope's, with the exception of it's colors. His belt was Black, with a silver buckle.

"I think these two should be able to keep you busy." Dr. Rifleman concluded, as she returned to the gunship.

"Of course. Between watching the recordings of the Vytal Tournament, and recovering from being knocked into next week, she's gonna have her hands full." The second man joked. He slammed a large executioners axe on the ground.

Anna attempted to charge at him, but he was able to block her attack. As he swung, Anna dodged his ax. The Brute grabbed her by the head with one hand, and tossed her into the air. He used his flail to hit Anna, knocking her towards the edge of the cliff. "That wasn't Onyx Rider. Onyx Rider wouldn't be that weak." The axe-weilder noted. The brute replaced the Dust flail, which was destroyed in it's explosion. He turned his back as Anna climbed back up the cliff. "Looks like she's got some fight left in her." The executioner commented, almost excitedly.

"You should give up. You're outmatched." The brute warned. Anna attempted to attack the brute, but the executioner interrupted her with a blast of Ice Dust crystals from his weapon, which had transformed into an automatic rifle variation of Teal Aquamarine's weapon. The brute used his Mace to strike her while she was frozen in place, knocking her into the mountain. The Executioner charged at her, attempting to crush Anna with his axe. Anna rolled out of the way, and kicked him in the shin to knock him off balance. Anna rushed towards the brute, swinging her katana towards him. He used his free hand to block her attack. He followed by swinging his flail to blast Anna away from him. The executioner charged her while she was flying, tackling her into a large rock. When Anna got up, she was met by a storm of blows from the Brute's flail. He replaced the mace-head for the last blow, which created an explosion, knocking Anna into the air. The executioner used his axe to slam Anna into the ground.

"Come on! You're a Rider! You shouldn't be this weak!" The executioner taunted. Anna suddenly increased her power, causing her aura to trigger a scarlet flaming outline. Her hair broke out of it's ponytail, and hung loose.

Anna fired a barrage of beams. "Max Fire!" The brute tanked the attack, unfazed by the attack.

The brute burst into laughter. "I thought were holding back before!" He exclaimed. "But you're using Verto and you're still weak!"

"Just tell us where Onyx Rider is, and we won't have to kill you." The executioner explained.

"Not if you're working for Salem." Anna growled.

"Why does Ozpin's society brainwash these children into getting themselves killed?" The brute question.

...

Damasus was attack by Winter, Bismuth, and Ironwood from three sides. He kept spinning, focuing to block the close range attacks from Winter and Bismuth, and deflect the gunfire General Ironwood. Damascus kicked off Bismuth's chest and threw a Dust Disk at Ironwood. Winter jumped up, and slashed at Damascus from the back. She created a glyph holding him in place, allowing Bismuth to swing his weapon at Damascus. Damascus was knocked against the wall. Bismuth pinned Damascus in place. "Don't do anything stupid." Bismuth warned.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Damascus asked. "I bet Dad would help you make the next Nightingale Order."

"I'm not leaving Atlas." Bismuth replied.

"And I'm not going to become anyone's prisoner." Damascus responded. He pulled out another disk and detonated it at close range, creating a cloud of smoke.

"How many weapons is he carrying?" Bismuth asked.

...

Camo kept his weapon aimed at Dr. Artemis's head. Macaw and Limone arrived to assist. "Light sent us to give you a hand." Macaw explained.

"I can see that." Camo responded.

"So Silicon and Anna are headed towards the Doctor." Dr. Artemis concluded.

"Watch Dr. Artemis. Anna is in trouble." Camo ordered.

"How can you tell?" Limone asked.

"She's using Verto." Camo answer. The Ghosts only used Verto against dangerous opponents to mark their threat level to the others.

Camo opened a portal. _I won't let this end like last time._ Onyx previously used Verto to signal the other Ghosts that he had located Dr. Artemis and Viridian. Camo did not respond to the event quickly because Onyx wasn't in any immediate danger. Brass, another Ghost, abandoned his post to assist Onyx, which allowed Eclipse to escape.

...

The executioner fired Fire Dust crystals at Anna, creating an explosion ha knocked her back. The brute swung his flail. The chain disconnected, allowing the explosive to fly towards Anna like a grenade. It created an electrical explosion, shocking Anna. Anna struggled to pick herself up from the ground.

"Why won't you answer our questions?" The brute asked.

Camo's portal opened, and he walked through. "Oh, his guy might put up more of a fight." The executioner commented.

"Is that Onyx Rider?" The brute asked.

"Yes." Camo lied.


	17. Descendants of Pallium

**I want to take this moment to note that Viridian met Qrow at night, and all following events occurred at around midnight.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Push yourself harder. Your not even close to your old strength. I need you to surpass Onyx." Camo continued training Anna._

 _"What do you think I'm doing!" Anna shouted._

 _"I think you're not doing enough. What are you going to do if Eclipse unleashes an army with the strength of Umbra?" Camo asked._

 _"I'm going to fight them." Anna answered._

 _"You'll lose. Because Onyx isn't going to come back to save us next time." Camo replied._

 _..._

Damascus ran through the hallways, rushing towards a hanger. Winter sped past him, blocking his path. "You're not escaping."

"Wait a minute. I remember you! You were the Schnee fighting Qrow Branwen in that one video!" Damascus realized.

"Then you know you won't be able to get past me." Winter responded. "You should surrender while you still have a choice."

"All Atlesian Specialists are the same. It's like you have a hive mind or something." Damascus commented. He tossed a disk, which Winter froze.

Winter jumped off of a wall and struck Damascus with her sword. "It's called discipline and loyalty." She replied.

"That's why you left your family? Loyalty?" Damascus asked. Damascus took his sword in single-bladed form, slashing at Winter while she carefully walked backwards to avoid the blade.

"You shouldn't speak about matters you don't understand." Winter warned. She struck Damascus with the handle of her weapon.

"You had the largest company on Remnant in your inheritance, and you passed it for the military." Damascus converted his weapon into a dual bladed sword. Winter created a glyph that carried her away from Damascus. Damascus leapt into the air. The blades on his weapon circled to disk shaped handle of the weapon, allowing Damascus to hover briefly. Winter used another glyph to create an icicle, trapping Damscus's weapon and arms before it could reach her.

"You should stop talking." Winter suggested.

...

"Onyx Rider? I thought he'd be taller." The Executioner commented. He propped his axe over his shoulder, standing casually.

"Who are you?" Camo asked.

"A descendant of an old aquantaince of yours." The Executioner answered.

Camo noticed the insignia on his belt. "Pallium." Camo spoke.

"He remembers." The Brute commented.

"Or he did research for his part." The Executioner noted. "I'm not one hundred percent convinced that you're the real Onyx Rider. I've heard there's someone in Vale pretending to be the Rider to scare the locals." _Of course, I already know that's not this guy. The other guy was taller._

Camo's aura flared with a scarlet flame, as he accessed the second level of Verto. "This enough to convince you?"

"Any Rider can use Verto. I want to see if you fight like the real Onyx." The Executioner explained. He swung his Axe. Camo used Aquamarine's weapon to catch it. The Executioner attempted to kick, but Camo caught his leg. Camo swept the remaining leg to knock down the Executioner.

Camo ducked under the Brute's mace swing, and swept his legs with a low spinning sweep kick. He quickly followed with another kick, which he used to propell himself away in a roll. The Brute swung his flail. Camo performed a backflip over the flail, while charging an aura powered energy attack. "Max Fire!"

The Brute tanked the barrage of blasts, walking through the attack. "I almost felt that one." The Brute commented. "I'm starting to think Ruina might be weak."

"Soaring Fireworks!" Anna fired a barrage of explosives, bursting like fire works to create more explosions. The attack knocked the brute back. Anna activated the second level of her Verto, and sped towards the Brute. The Brute attempted to swing his flail at her before she could close the distance. However, Anna ducked under the weapon, and slashed at the Brute with her katana. She kicked off him, jumping flipping backwards.

Meanwhile, Camo faced the Executioner. Camo caught the axe, and used a palm strike to push the executioner back. The Executioner slammed his axe on the ground and fired. Camo created an energy dome to block the incoming Dust Cyrstals. Camo fired Ice Dust crystals to freeze the executioners right leg. Camo slashed at the Executioner before performing a spinning uppercut with his freehand. He caught the Executioner by the leg and slammed him on the ground.

Anna rushed towards the brute. A sniper round hit Anna in the before just before she could strike. The Brute grabbed Anna by the neck and tossed her over the cliff. Camo jumped to slash the Brute, but his attack was blocked. The Brute smacked Camo, sending towards the Executioner. The Executioner jump kicked Camo, sending him off the cliff.

...

The Sniper observed from a distant cliffside. His armor was much like the others. A black jumpsuit under heavy armor. His blue chest armor included a red collar protecting his neck. His gauntlets and greaves included blue highlights. His helmet was a bascinet of similar design to the Executioner. His helmet had a single eye-slit and a blue tinted visor. His hip armor was also blue. He had a black belt with grey pouches around his waist. He also wore a black belt with a silver buckle carrying his scroll on his chest. The remainder of the armor was steel colored.

"Should we go after them?" The Sniper asked.

"No. They know we're serious. It won't be long before they send Onyx to us." Jay Heliotrope replied. He walked with his cane away from the cliffside.


	18. Comparing notes

**And now we move over to the next morning. I added some flashbacks to chapters 13-17, so some of you might want to check those out. I'm also wondering if anyone came up with any team attack names for Team VIRG. It's a tradition best left to the fans, after all. So if I'm correctly understanding the timeline, this is the first round of doubles matches, and the next day continues with more doubles matches.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Did you find out anything while you were being interogated by Eclipse?" Camo asked._

 _"Not even going to ask how I'm feeling?" Limone asked._

 _"You appear to be in good medical condition." Camo answered._

 _"You appear to be a sociopath." Limone replied._

 _"A high functioning sociopath." Camo responded. "Now answer the question."_

 _"No. Apparently they know less than we do." Limone replied._

 _"That is something. What didn't they know?" Camo questioned._

 _"Apparently, they don't know much about Team VYRT." Limone explained._

 _..._

The Vytal Tournament's doubles matches were beginning. Team JNPR's Pyrrha and Nora were preparing to battle students from Haven Academy.

"Hey, Rusty! Over here!" Jaune called to Rusty from near an entrance to the stadiums. He and Indigo were waiting for him.

"What's up?" Rusty asked.

"Did you find out what's going on with Weiss?" Jaune whispered.

Rusty remembered what he'd agreed to do the previous day. "It was nothing serious. She just forgot to renew the card after it expired." Rusty lied.

"Well, at least we don't have to break anyone's legs." Indigo replied.

"Ok, maybe we overreacted." Jaune concluded.

"We should just forget any of this happened." Rusty concluded.

...

"Dammit!" Camo slammed his fist against a wall inside an Atlesian Airship.

"Considering that Dr. Rifleman anticipated our arrival, we're lucky we were able to successfully capture the others." Light noted. He and Camo were discussing the current situation.

"Because it didn't matter. She still escaped to continue whatever plan she has. And Apollo is still at large." Camo responded.

"There was nothing that could be done to capture Sol Apollo." Light reminded.

"Dr. Artemis wouldn't have risked being captured if she knew she was vital to whatever their plans are." Camo explained.

"We know they want access to the the Chaos Projector. Whatever they're planning will require them to steal it from Atlas." Light said. "And they'll need one of the Items of the Rider's to power it."

"I have people searching for any traces of one of the Rider artifacts. But Rifleman and Apollo will probably stay in hiding." Camo explained.

"Then we must seek them out." Light replied.

...

A man with an eye-patch walked into a museum, and admired a statue designed to resemble a Beo-wolf. "Museum hours have ended. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." A guard warned.

"How much do you know you know about that statue." The one-eyed man asked.

"It's just some old statue." The guard replied.

"It's thousands of years old. It was created by Fama Lupum, one of the founders of the Order of the Pheonix. Hundreds of years ago, it was recovered by Onyks Rytter. He sold it to Graes Kutter, an Archeologist aquiantance of his, who—" The one-eyed man rambled.

"Sir, if you do not leave now, I will be authorized to use physical force." The guard warned. He pulled out a baton powered with electricity based Dust.

"No. You'll do no such thing." The one-eyed man replied. He fired a blast of red light from a device he held in his hand, sending the guard crashing through a wall. The One-eyed man attached Helios Glare to his eye patch. "I'll be taking this." Dr. Apollo said, as he placed his hand on the statue. It's eyes glowed, and the statue began moving.


	19. Shades of Grey

**I think I've been focusing on Camo for long enough. Back to Viridian, on the next day.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Hey, you thinking about signing up for the Vytal Tournament?" Rifleman asked._

 _"Wait, it's not mandatory?" Limone questioned, moving from what appeared to be a long nap._

 _"I don't care about the tournament." Their leader anawered._

 _"Verdant, you know we could win easily." Rifleman noted._

 _"I didn't come here for the spotlight." Verdant replied._

 _"I'm with Verdant on this one. Why go through the extra effort." Limone asked._

 _"But what about the fame? And prizes! There's prizes, right?" Aquamarine added._

 _"Dude, who cares. I don't want to go fighting other teams just for some money or whatever. I joined to fight monsters, not people." Limone countered._

 _"That's a thin line." Rifleman remarked._

 _"Come on! You could just drop out before the doubles round, and let me do the rest." Aquamarine begged._

 _"There's no way you're winning the finals on your own." Verdant argued._

 _"Is that a bet?" Aquamarine taunted._

 _"No." Verdant concluded._

...

Veridian sat back, watching Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi faceoff against Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. "Hows Grey?" Cardin Winchester asked as he approached and took a seat.

"He's fine. Other than the missing eye. The doctors want him to take his time adjusting before he leaves." Veridian explained. The medics expressly ordered that Grey take his time to adjust before he leaves.

"Must be nice to have teammates that would take a hit for you." Cardin muttered.

"If I hadn't dragged my team down there, they wouldn't have gotten hurt." Viridian said.

"But then you'd probably be missing an eye." Cardin noted. "They chose to follow you. My teammates wouldn't have done the same For me."

"I shouldn't have given them a choice." Viridian countered.

"And I could've been a nicer person. We can't change the past." Cardin replied.

"I was never sure if I'd become a Huntsman. I knew someone was looking for me. His people went through Eclipse easily." Viridian explained. "I didn't know who he was, or what he wanted from me."

"And?" Cardin asked.

"I've learned more about him while I was here. His name is Forrest Camo. He's from Atlas. His semblance lets him copy other people's Semblances for a limited time." Viridian answered.

"At the dance, Grey told me he works for someone trying to keep Remnant safe from threatsop no one sees coming." Cardin explained.

"That sounds like him." Viridian answered.

"Did you know?" Cardin asked.

"The only thing I know about him is that he isn't using his real last name, and he had some interesting interactions with the White Fang." Viridian replied. "I suspected he was working for someone, but Camo and Eclipse probably aren't the only ones trying to find me."

"Who else is there?" Cardin questioned.

"I don't know. I don't know why people want to find me." Viridian replied. "I also don't know much about Grey, other than he doesn't like the White Fang, and he changed his last name so no one would recognize it during Oobleck's class. And I got that from an article about him stopping the White Fang from abducting Schnee Dust Company Executives."

"Well, I think we should have a chat with Grey." Cardin suggested.

...

Grey tossed darts at a target. Some had hit the target, while others hit the wall. Bandages covered his burned right eye.

"Lagune, we need to talk." Viridian annouced. Few people at Beacon were aware of Grey's true last name. Most knew him as Grey Lakewater, the name he entered under. Only Viridian, and members of the staff were informed.

"Shouldn't you be enjoying the Vytal Festival? You know you don't have to worry about me." Grey responded without removing his attention from his darts.

"Not if you're working for Camo." Viridian's tone became threatening.

Grey glared at Viridian. "You wouldn't understand why I'm doing this." He responded angrily.

"What I understand is that you're trying to help one of the most powerful people on Remnant kill me." Viridian countered.

"Because you're dangerous. You have no idea what Eclipse wants from you." Grey answered. _"You're the anomaly."_ Onyx Rider's voice echoed in Viridan's mind. "Camo does, and he won't let them or anyone else use it to threaten innocents."

"If he wasn't trying to kill me, I could have been focused on becoming a Huntsman." Viridian said. "I used to want to become a Huntsman like my father, Verdant Viridis. But because I had to worry about Camo, and Eclipse, and whoever else is looking for me, it would probably never happen." He explained.

"Because you're not meant for heroism." Grey replied.

"When you got injured, I blamed myself." Viridian walked closer towards Grey. "I told myself that it was my fault, that I shouldn't have let you follow me. That I shouldn't have come to Beacon knowing I would bring my troubles with me." Viridian knocked the ball out of Grey's hand. It bounced over to the right side of the room.

"Yet you did it anyway. And I payed the price." Grey replied.

"Better you than everyone else." Viridian replied. He jumped out of the open window.

"Do you even know how to use doors!" Grey shouted.


	20. The future is unpredictable

**I'm interested in finding out what Adam will become now that he has lost everything. Who will he trust? What does he want now? Will we ever see him again?**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Argh!" A mercenary screamed in pain as his arm was chopped off. He dropped one of his dual swords on the ground. He was kicked against the wall by Verdant Viridis._

 _"Don't feel bad. It was nothing personal." Verdant explained. Verdant plugged his scroll into a terminal, and it began downloading information._

 _"Besides, in your line of business, a missing limb is an easy way out." Dr. Rifleman added. "Have you heard about Gunmetal Industries Eye-for-an-eye Program?" The man continued screaming in pain._

 _"That didn't sound like a yes." Verdant noted, his eyes focused on the download._

 _"They'll give you your arm back, better than ever." Dr. Rifleman sounded as if she were being paid to advertise._

 _"Of course, you'll be contractually forced to waste your prime days working security for them." Verdant reminded. He unplugged his scroll as the download completed. "But it's still a better retirement plan than dying."_

...

"How many weapons does this guy need?" Bismuth asked, looking at the knives and disks confiscated from inside Damascus's suit.

"Weren't you the one that carried an arsenal of Gunmetal Industries latest weapons? Why are you using a hammer?" Damascus asked. Damascus was handcuffed and watched closely by several guards.

"It's a wrench!" Bismuth repeated. "A tool of justice for dealing with people like you."

"You're a tool." Damascus countered. "You just fix other people's problems without thinking for yourself."

"I think you deserve to die, but that's not for me to decide." Bismuth remarked.

"What are you angry about?" Damascus asked.

"You wouldn't remember. All you care about is yourself." Bismuth replied. He walked away while Damascus was escorted toward the prison cells.

"It's because I know what I'm worth!" Damascus shouted back.

...

"Alright, they're starting the next fight. It's the girl with the guns scythes and her kicking friend against the minigun shopper and the big guy with the big sword." The man in the blue suit who goes by the name "Poole" runs vaguely legitimate gambling for the Vytal Tournament fights. He also covers smaller regional tournaments and may or may not also be covering illegal underground tournaments on the side to make some extra money. Because the fights are random from the viewers perspective, bets need to be placed immediately before the fights begin. Poole is terrible with remembering names, and instead relies on nicknames he creates for the fighters.

"My money's on the Haven this time." Acid Bog spoke, as he placed Lien on the table.

"You really think those rookies are going to take down bigger and more experienced fighters? Keep dreaming, Bog." Choppa shouted, as he placed down an equal amout of Lien. Choppa was an old rival of Bog.

"Size and experience isn't everything." Bog replied.

"You're one to talk." Poole commented, as he moved the Lien into two separate boxes. Poole's voice had an accent that distinguished him from the others in the room.

"You calling me fat, little guy with the names?" Bog imitated Poole as he spoke.

"I'm just saying you're way past your prime." Poole answered.

"Well, I can still take you." Bog reminded, switching to his previous voice.

"I want to change my bet." Choppa said, as he continued watching the tournament.

...

Indigo and Rusty both worked on Shadow Hawk, a stolen Eclipse Gunship equipped with a stolen Gunmetal Industries cloaking device.

"I heard Grey might be out in time to see the final rounds." Indigo spoke.

"He probably hasn't been missing much from the hospital." Rusty replied.

An angry Viridian approached them. "Grey's helping the same person that sent Onyx after me." Viridian explained.

"What? Why would he do that?" Indigo questioned.

"I don't know. But I know I can't trust him." Viridian answered.

"That doesn't make him untrustworthy. He could be like Rhodes or my sister." Rusty noted.

"How do we know trusting them was a good idea. I kept questioning myself and now I know I might have been better off if I hadn't!" Viridian ranted. Indigo and Rusty stepped back.

"You can't see the future. You don't know everything. You couldn't have known what to do." Indigo answered.

"Right now, I wish I could." Viridian said.

"Well, no one can. We just know what we could have done to prevent it, and hope it stops us from repeating our mistakes." Rusty replied.

...

"Rifleman is probably going to go somewhere that allows her to stay away from us and observe the Vytal Tournament." Silicon concluded.

"I have my people looking around Vale. We have eyes in Amity Coliseum and around Vale and Beacon. She can't get inside without the, noticing." Camo responded.

"Unless she slips past them undetected. We can't do much to spot her in the civilian populace, and even if we did, we'd have trouble engaging her without an incident." Light noted.

"And General Ironwood isn't authorizing your search anymore. He might order his men to send Rifleman to him first. And even if we find Rifleman before the General does, we can't guarantee the he'll allow us to confront her." Anna added.

"I didn't ask them to engage. Just inform me. It's the bets chance we have at finding her at all. And because it's dependent on their individual choices, Rifleman won't be bale to predict what they'll do because we don't know." Camo explained. Rifleman's semblance is less reliable with wide ranged probabilities than individual probabilities.

"Still, we're taking a gamble that might not pay off." Macaw reminded. "I don't like it."

...

"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!"

"Sorry, but you lost this time." Bog said. Poole collected the money from the losing bets, so they would be placed into the prize on the final bet. The winners Lien was returned by Poole. Poole may not remember names, but he's never handed any more or less Lien than they should have recieved.

"How have you won evey bet you placed today?" Choppa asked.

"Not just today. The streaks been going since yesterday." Poole whispered.

"I know my fighters, man." Bog replied.

"Is it too late to join in on the betting?" Dr. Rifleman asked, as she approached their counter.


	21. Mismatch

**Team RWBY should probably be banned from trains. This is the second train they've been on, and it's crashing during another Grimm attack.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"Oh, come on! Just think about it!" Aquamarine continued to attempt to convince Verdant to join the Vytal Festival._

 _"There's nothing to think about." Verdant responded._

 _"It's not like there's anything better for you to do." Aquamarine said._

 _"I don't care about the Vytal Festival. It's just a distraction from the problems we'll have to deal." Verdant explained_

 _"Like what, the Grimm? Criminals? That stuff can be taken care of by people who actually graduated. Just take it easy, man." Aquamarine replied._

 _"I'll take it easy when the world is safe." Verdant answered._

 _"Your job isn't to save the world. Just live in it." Aquamarine said._

...

"Mohawk and Armor Guy lost to the Puppeteer and Clockwork." Poole repeated the results of the fight. He collected more of the lost money. "The streak finally ends." Poole collected some of Bog's money.

"What happened?" Choppa asked.

"I thought the guy with Mace was going to be there. You win some, you lose some." Bog shrugged. Predicting matches becomes increasingly difficult, as no one knows which team members are participating.

"It probably wouldn't have mattered. It doesn't look like his teammates are much good." Rifleman replied.

"After what he did in the first round, I'm surprised he wasn't here." Choppa noted.

"He'd only have a chance if he went for Ceil first, and fought the Penny one on one." Rifleman responded.

...

"You didn't show up for the double match." Viridian commented, as he found Cardin playing a Carnival Game.

"I don't exactly trust my teammates much at this point." Cardin replied. He maintained focus on throwing balls at targets. "I probably would have won by myself, just like in the First Round."

"You're strong. They rely on that." Viridian replied.

"Well, I'm getting tired of carrying them all the time." Cardin spoke. Cardin hit another target.

"You think we're the only students in Beacon that ever got let down by their teammates?" Viridian asked. Cardin missed with his last throw.

"No! I just wish I could replace those guys." Cardin explained.

"We don't really get much choice with our teammates. We just have to work with them." Viridian responded.

"So what are you planning to do about Grey?" Cardin asked.

"I'm not sure. But I'm going to figure it out." Viridian answered.

...

"Schnee and Blondie are going up against Shades and the Skater." Poole announced.

"So, who'd you bet on this time?" Choppa asked.

"Schnee and Blonde. The other team doesn't know what their up against, they're not ready." Bog answered.

"And Blondie hits hard." Hei Xiong joined the counter.

"That the reason she's the only team you bet on?" Poole asked.

"I bet on her because if she wins, I might just ignore the last couple of times she decided to come over to my club." Xiong replied.

"And if she doesn't win?" Rifleman asked.

"I'll worry about that later." Xiong answered.

"Well, we'll see how things turn out." Poole said.


	22. Anticipation

**We're approaching the Battle of Beacon soon. But first, we wrap up the tournament. Which means two more matches. But remember, there the price of the one death I am undoing. The bill always comes due. And it's almost time to pay the piper.**

 **...**

 _"I know you're not asleep." Verdant said. "We need to keep moving."_

 _"Oh come on, it's not like the Grimm are looking for us." Limone grumbled._

 _"We have a mission to complete. The sooner we get it done, the sooner you can go back to sleeping in a real bed." Verdant ordered._

 _"Alright, but you're paying for lunch." Limone replied._

 _"Don't think you can just sleep on the job again. If you get spotted, I can't cover you." Verdant reminded._

 _"I wouldn't be sleeping on the job if you let me get my sleep." Limone snarked._

 _..._

Grey walked out of the hospital, still wearing bandages over his eyes. "Remember to take it easy." A nurse reminded.

"What do you call what I was doing last week?" Grey questioned. He turned to see Trolley Carr and Sandy Storm were waiting outside.

Grey walked outside to meet them. "Camo sent you?" Grey asked.

"No. He is definitely not trustworthy." Trolley Carr answered. He was wearing another large shirt. His new one was likely from a gift shop, as it advertised the Vytal Tournament. "He has no intention o helping us."

"You don't know that." Grey said.

"A refusal to deny the accusation is basically the same thing as admitting to the crime." Carr replied.

"What?" Grey asked.

"Dude, do I have to break it down for you?" Carr asked. "The Shady Government Dude wouldn't say he wasn't going to double cross us."

"Why would he just give you the truth?" Grey asked.

"Because he didn't think we'd get loose." Sandy Storm answered.

"He used one of those Rider Relics to take Rhodes memories." Trolley explained. "It's why Rhodes is working for him.

"What?" Grey questioned.

"That's not even the worst thing he's done, dude." Carr added.

...

"Alright, we got plenty of Lien on the line for the betting pool." Poole annouced. "Everyone picks one of the finalists, and we see which one brings home the gold."

"So, this is the end of tournament." Rifleman said.

"We got Blondie, The Third Musketeer, the Monkey Kid, Wingtips, Tattoo Hood guy, Puppeteer, Kicker, and Cereal box face." Poole named off the finalists. The betters placed their bets using their scrolls to select a fighter. "These are the finals. Once you place a bet, there's no going back."

"Blondie better not disappoint." Xiong grumbled to himself.

"Well, I'm standing behind Mercury on this one. He reminds me of myself." Bog replied. Bog earned fame as a former Vytal Tournament champion. Of course, his time has long past, and he's definitely not half the fighter he was then.

"I Thought you'd pick Nikos." Choppa replied. He also bet on Mercury.

"Might've, if she didn't look like she just heard that her parents died." Bog replied. "I've seen it happen before. Good fighter gets distracted by some bad news, can't focus on the fight, and end up losing to someone they should've taken easily." Bog holds onto a lot of his past fights.

"Well, looks like your fighters are kicking things off." Poole interrupted. "Kicker and Blondie. Fist vs foot. Silver vs Gold."

"Shut up, and so we can watch the fight!" Bog shouted.

...

Camo walked into Damascus's Prison Cell. "You have it?" Damascus asked. Camo tossed him a Red scroll. Damascus opened it and started watching the Vytal Tournament fight.

"Where is Dr. Apollo?" Camo asked.

"He's probably looking for my Uncle's statue, so he power the Grimm projector." Damascus answered without looking away from his scroll.

"Chaos Projector." Camo corrected, before leaving the cell.

"He gave you anything?" Anna asked.

"They're going after a Relic that Gunmetal Industries discovered." Camo answered.

"Can we contect Carbon Steele, and find the Relic?" Anna questioned.

"He's too busy. We'd need to schedule an appointment a week in advance, or wait until he shows in Vale to meet with General Ironwood after the Vytal Tournament." Camo explained. Carbon Steele spends most of his time focusing on his company. Even his children have difficulties finding time to interact with their father.

"We can't just sit around and wait for them to steal it." Anna reminded.

"We won't need to. It belonged to Roni steal. There should be records of what happened to it after his arrest." Camo answered. He walked over to a console. His eyes glowed red, and he remotely accessed the CCT using Damscus's semblance to manipulate the console.

...

Electricity walked towards VIRG's room. She knocked on the door, expecting her little brother. Indigo opened it instead. "Ellie! What brings you here?" Indigo greeted.

"I was looking for my brother. I wanted to talk with him, and he's not answering my calls." Electricity answered.

"Well, he's not here. He went with Viridian to see the finals." Indigo explained.

"Right. I can't believe I didn't think to search there first." Electricity realized she'd forgotten about the Vytal Tournament, due to the amount of time she spent gathering information.

"It doesn't surprise me. You were dumb enough to trust me three times." Indigo said.

"I didn't need the reminder." Electricity noted.

"Ellie, wait!" Indigo called, but Electricity closed the door and left.

...

"This is it. After the tournament, it's back to watching out for Camo." Viridian said. The two were seated, watching Yang and Mercury fight.

"We know he's with Ironwood. Which means that when the General pulls out, he has to take his people with him." Rusty explained.

"That's the one good thing about the lack of crime: Camo can't pull anything without the rest of Ironwood's troops noticing." Viridian replied.

"Yeah, that's what bothers me. Crime doesn't usually take vacations like this." Rusty said. "Any time a major criminal gets caught, there's always a power vacuum people fight over. But instead, they're waiting."

"Could be waiting for Ironwood's people to leave. They might be worried that more crimes might convince Ironwood to stay." Viridian answered.

"Even then, there's almost always someone that won't listen." Rusty explained. "My Uncle tried to control the criminal underworld. He used people like Torchwick to steal Dust and weapons, and sell them to the White Fang and other criminals, while he profited off of the business from arming the Police, Private Securities, and Huntsmen opposing them. And anyone he didn't control always found there way into the crossfire. The instant he lost power, there was a power struggle."

"Roman Torchwick wasn't that high up. His disappearance shouldn't have even been noticed." Viridian noted.

"The most important thing my Uncle taught me, is that crime only sits still there's someone keeping their hands tied behind their backs." Rusty said.

"And I'll bet whoever it is, has something big planned." Viridian said. "My father would be searching for them, and thwarting their plans the daya after the Vytal Tournament."

"What's he doing now?" Rusty asked.

"I don't know." Viridian answered.

...

Mercury brought down a hurricane of blasts on Yang. He walked away, dusting himself off, and smirking at his apparent victory.

"YES!" Choppa shouted.

"Don't celebrate yet." Xiong warned. He knew exactly what was going to happen next. The smoke cleared, and Yang activated her semblance.

"NO! NO!" Choppa shouted. Mercury turned to face Yang. She rushed forwards, and Mercury blocked her punch. He performed two kicks, which Yang ducked under. His third kick was blocked, giving Yang an opportunity to counter attack. She repeatedly punched Mercury.

"Come on! Block, dammit!" Bog shouted at the screen. Mercury was aura got reduced by one punch, which was followed with a second punch to the jaw that knocked Mercury to the ground.

"What a way to kick off the finals!" Professor Port shouted.

"Yang Xaio Long wins!" Dr. Oobleck announced.

"Man, I really wasn't sure which of those two was gonna win." Poole commented.

Choppa grabbed Bog by the collar of his shirt, lifting him. "I shoulda known he was gonna lose the moment you said he reminded him of yourself!" Choppa shouted.

"Well, they both lost." Poole replied.

"You should never underestimate her." Junior warned.

"He was planning for this fight." Bog explained. "I don't know why he didn't see her Semblance coming."

"You must not people as well as you think." Poole responded.

"This is why I bet on Pyrrha Nikos." Rifleman noted.

Suddenly, Mercury was heard screaming. Yang had shot him in the leg.

"Wait, that never happened in the fight." Poole realized that this wasn't a replay.

"My word!" Oobleck exclaimed.

"Cut the cameras!" Port ordered. The footage ended early.

"Well, looks like everyone is getting free refunds." Poole commented.


	23. Turning point

**The Battle of Beacon is about to begin. I called upon my brother to write the preview for this chapter.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"A crucial moment in history approaches, and as I predicted, Beacon will fall."_

 _"Not if we intervene."_

 _"Time has made you sentimental,_ _Kirimcaṉ_ _Cōl."_

 _"And time has made you apathetic, Nittiya_ _Kaṭikāram."_

 _"Perhaps. But regardless of our beliefs, at this moment the future we both want hinges on the Crimson One."_

 _"And for that we need_ _Tippitakkāta_ _Tï."_

 _"He will obey, For he shares our goal."_

 _"Then I will prepare for their arrival."_

 _..._

"Looks like one more day of Atlas over our shoulders." Rusty replied.

"I don't trust any of this." Viridian said.

"You saw what Yang did." Indigo reminded.

"Weren't you scared of her?" Rusty asked.

"I know she wouldn't attack Mercury for no reason." Viridian answered.

"Still, she did it." Indigo repeated.

"Something about this doesn't seem right." Viridian noted.

...

"Something is not right. That's not Xaio Long." Bog said.

"I've known her longer, and I'm certain it's her." Xiong countered.

"She wouldn't have gone for the leg if she was trying to attack him. She'd go for the face or the chest. I think someone might be fixing the matches." Bog explained.

"You still on about the loss? You know it doesn't count, right?" Poole asked.

"Not just that. Nikos was off, Black was off, all of this is off to me." Bog said.

"Maybe you're just losing your touch." Poole replied.

"What, you think someone's using semblance to mess with the fighters heads?" Rifleman asked.

"I don't know. But there's something not right about this. I can smell a conspiracy right here." Bog changed his accent slightly.

"All I smell is a sore loser!" Someone else shouted.

...

Camo watched footage of Yang attacking Mercury. "Camo, I know we aren't on the best terms, but I want to ask your opinion." General Ironwood interrupted.

"She's hothead, but she wouldn't attack him if she didn't think he was a threat." Camo explained.

"He definitely was not a threat." Ironwood noted.

"Her strike's aiming suggests that she had been attempting to predict movement." Camo replayed the video. "She either thought Black was going to attack her and attempted a preemtive strike, or failed to acknowledge the fight was over due to the intensity of the moment."

"This has nothing to do with any of the Riders?" Ironwood asked. "They could have used their abilities to make her see Mercury attacking first."

"Silicon didn't sense any other Riders nearby, and they can't use Adlucinatio without eye contact." Camo explained.

"I want you watching the remaining tournament fights more closely." Ironwood instructed.

"Of course." Camo responded. "Something about this doesn't seem right." _I've been so focused on Eclipse, I might have missed something._

...

Sol Apollo returns to another Eclipse safehouse. "Dr. Apollo, you seem to be in desperate need of new minions." Jay Heliotrope was waiting for him, already seated in a chair.

"I take it you're here to renegotiate." Dr. Apollo presumed.

"No. In fact, I came because our agreement is still active." Heliotrope responded. He got up from his chair. "My boss has been spending a bit of time recruiting every criminal in Vale."

"And just how did you manage that?" Dr. Apollo asked.

"In many differnt ways. Convince the reasonable leaders that it's in their best interests to obey. Intimidate the cowards to keep them in line. Killing anyone too stubborn to listen to reason until they get the idea." Jay explained. "And the New Rider certainly helped things."

"That's not a plan you can just pull over night." Dr. Apollo noted. "Someone gave you the information you needed to cripple Vale's criminal underworld, and you used it to become the next Roni Steele."

Heliotrope laughed. "That's not all I know. General Ironwood had the Chaos Projector on one of his airships. Until I stole it for you."

"With this, we can finish Black Ghost. We'll have an army!" Dr. Apollo declared.

"Yeah, but I'm going to need you to send one of those things on a rampage tonight." Jay Heliotrope explained.

"We only have time to finish the last remaining clone." Dr. Apollo realized what Heliotrope wanted. " You want me to delay my plans, when they are closer than ever to completion, for your own."

"Without me, your plans would have had to wait much longer." Jay Heliotrope reminded. "If setting us even isn't enough motivation, then helping free all of your captured associates should."

"How do you plan to acheive that? They'll be on General Ironwood's personal airship." Apollo questioned.

Heliotrope laughed. "Do you think I'm scared of his little ships?" Heliotrope asked. "He can parade as much strength as he wishes, but at the end of day, he doesn't he'll never know what it's like to have true power." Heliotrope explained. "My boss, Onyx, they have real power. And real power is unmistakable."


	24. All tickets sold out

**And now, for the momenent where things go dark comes next chapter, because this one was becoming longer than I planned. But before we can do any of that, Penny needs to get cut up. I wish I could have fit more interactions between her and Rusty, but it's too late for that. But I'm sure she'll come back in some form or another in one of my stories.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"You advanced my Aura research a lot while I was away." Dr. Rifleman observed files. "Are you sure you need me?"_

 _"We're dealing with a patient who has... magic." General Ironwood explained hesitantly._

 _"Magic? The closest thing to magic I've touched were the Riders." Dr. Rifleman reminded._

 _"Which is more sophisticated than anything we've worked with." Ironwood responded._

 _"Why don't you just steal the Umbra Agency's files?" Dr. Rifleman ask._

 _"There's no guarantee that they have information that can help us with the Maiden's. And even if they did, we wouldn't know where to look for them." Ironwood answered. "But you already have that knowledge memorized, and furthered with your own research."_

 _"Which you never recovered." Dr. Rifleman presumed. Ironwood did not respond. "I'll try to help you, but I have conditions."_

 _"I won't be allow any classified information to exposed." Ironwood noted._

 _"You can't keep it classified forever." Dr. Rifleman replied._

...

Viridian visited team RWBY's dorm, where Yang remained alone. "This could be worse." He said.

"If you wanted to know if you can borrow Bumblebee, the answer is no." Yang warned.

"Indigo's probably taking it for a joyride, anyway." Viridian muttered.

"What?!" Yang shouted, her eyes turning red.

"I didn't say anything!" Viridian said.

"That's exactly why people aren't surprised you shot that kid." Cardin inserted himself into the conversation.

"What are you doing here?" Yang questioned.

"I was going to tell Viridian that Grey wanted to have a word with him." Cardin answered.

"Grey's here?" Viridian questioned.

"When did you two become friends." Yang asked.

"I met Cardin during the initiation, and he was useful for finding out that Yankee Sam helped people try to capture me." Viridian explained.

"And you just trust him more than your teammates." Yang noted.

"Because the guy with no friends is probably not getting manipulated by Eclipse." Viridian answered.

"Wait, that's why you came me?!" Cardin realized.

"Yeah. What, you thought I was that impressed with you becoming a leader?" Viridian asked.

"Yes?" Cardin answered.

"Can you go? I don't want to forget what I came here to say." Viridian requested.

"Alright. I know when I'm not wanted." Cardin walked away.

"What I wanted to say was that I know you wouldn't attack Mercury if you didn't think he did something wrong." Viridian said.

"Thanks." Yang responded.

"And if it turns out that Mercury deserved what he got, I'm breaking his other leg." Viridian continued.

Yang laughed. "That might not end well." She commented.

...

Indigo searched for one of the Atlas dorm rooms. She knocked, and Rocky answered. "Oh, Rocky. Hey, Buddy." Indigo said awkwardly, having forgotten that the former Eclipse thug was on the team until now. "Is Olivia here?"

"No, I think she was talking with the Steele kid from your team." Rocky answered.

"Oh, okay." Indigo responded.

"Hey, you saw what happened with Yang Xaio Long?" Rocky asked.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure everyone in Vale watched it live." Indigo commented.

"Yeah, it sucks. They're good fighters, I wish I could've fought them in the finals." Rocky continued.

"Well, since Penny is up, so your team is still in the tournament." Indigo reminded.

"Yeah, but I just wish I could fight someone right now." Rocky said. "The amnesia sucks. I can't remember who I was, and I need you and Olivia to keep reminding me of stuff. But when I'm fighting, everything makes sense to me."

"You always liked a good fight. It's why you wanted to be here." Indigo lied. Indigo and "Olivia" knew very little of Rocky Rhodes past, but they've managed to decieve him into believing he was their friend.

...

"What do you want, Grey?" Viridian asked.

"It's about Camo. I know what's been distracting." Grey answered.

"Spit it out." Viridian ordered. _This better not be a lie._

"Eclipse. Trolley Carr and Storm were recruited by them, and one of them escaped from Atlas custody after Camo went after them." Grey explained. "He caught most them. The only ones that got away are Two Scientists and some mercs."

"So Eclipse is still functioning." Viridian lamented.

"Not exactly. They lost Apollo, but they also found a scientist that caught by Atlas before that. Kelly Rifleman." Grey explained. "Apparently, she knows a lot about what Eclipse was trying to do, and finished one of their projects. But because they lost so much, they're probably not in a position to do much."

"So Eclipse is gone for now, and Camo is probably making a move against me soon." Viridian realized.

"According to Carr, he's been held back by General Ironwood, but after Eclipse tried to blackmail him, he's giving Camo free range to clean up Eclipse. He's probably going to be left in Vale if there's any Eclipse left." Grey explained.

"How do you know Carr can be trusted?" Viridian questioned. "He and Storm both worked for Camo."

"They betrayed Camo and helped Eclipse after they found out he was manipulating them and the others he recruited with them." Grey said.

"How do you know they aren't working for Camo now?" Viridian asked.

"They tried to convince me to leave Camo because they found out he wiped Rhodes memory, and was never planning to destroy Eclipse's work." Grey answered. "He's been collecting all of Eclipse's research, and sending it to Atlas." Grey answered.

"Atlas." Viridian said. _Is that why General Ironwood has been trying to keep his security around for so long? Too steal from Eclipse?_ Viridian looked to the Atlesian Airships in the sky.

"If you don't leave before the Vytal Festival is over, there might not be a chance to get away from Camo." Grey answered.

Viridian reminded himself the one conversation he overheard between Ironwood and Camo. _"We didn't need her dead, and her knowledge is useful."_ There's no doubt that General Ironwood is using people that Camo was targeting. _"I don't know what Viridian is. I just know that Dr. Rifleman hopes you never kill him."_ But Ironwood wants to save lives. He does care for Viridian. Camo was the only one looking for him.

"I don't believe them or you." Viridian answered threateningly.

"It all adds up. I know Camo doesn't have the pull to call favors from General Ironwood's. He's had me do work behind his back. If Ironwood is here, he wants something in Vale that no one else is seeing." Grey assured. "I'm trying to help you because using anything that came from Eclipse is wrong. The things they do to get results aren't forgiveable."

"Or your helping Camo, like you always have." Viridian walked away.

...

The Vytal Tournament finalists were preparing their weapons and conversing with teammates before their final match. Electricity and Rusty walked over to Penny, the secret robotic teammate. "Just a few one on one fights, and we win the tournament." Electricity explained.

"I won't let you down." Penny assured.

"You got this. Just keep them from seizing any advantage." Rusty advised.

...

As he entered the line to get into the Amity colosseum, Viridian noticed a familiar face. "Acid Bog." The rest of Bog was different, having lost some weight.

"Long time no see, Kid." Bog replied.

"It wasn't that long." Viridian noted.

"It's an expression." Bog said, slightly annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Viridian asked.

"I'm trying to get to the bottom of these fights. Something about them doesn't seem right." Bog explained.

"You sure you're not overthinking this?" Viridian asked.

"You want to know the secret to how I win every fight?" Bog asked back. "Knowing how your enemies think. Once you know how they think, you can control the fight."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Viridian questioned. _We're not fighting._

"I know that the fights were set up with predictable results, up until Xaio Long fought Black." Bog explained. "I know Black should have been preparing for Xaio Long's Semblance after she was used in her last fight. And I know that if Xaio Long was trying to attack Black, she would have gone higher than the legs."

"That last one isn't entirely accurate." Viridian warned.

"Kid, when you're attacking an opponent on the ground, where would you aim?" Bog asked.

"Why does it matter?" Viridian asked.

"Answer the question." Bog growled.

"The head. Try to knock them out." Viridian answered.

"If you're being attacked by an opponet trying to hit you with

"Whatever it is, you should keep an eye out. Something's at work here." Bog warned. "If this wasn't happening at the after that new guy showed up looking for the Rider, I wouldn't be so worried."

"What new guy?" Viridian asked.

"Some pretender calling himself the Rider." Bog answered. "Whoever he was, he's out looking for the real Rider. Not that fake running around. And he doesn't want any criminals lifting a muscle unless it's against the real Onyx."

"You knew the Rider?" Viridian asked.

"He showed up at my gym once." Bog explained. "He was just focused on his plans, fights like an Atlesian Specialist on a mission. The new guy is just wandering aimlessly, trying to scare every criminal he runs into."

"Well, we're at the front of the line. See you later." Viridian said.

"Watch Nikos. Something tells me she's next."

...

Viridian didn't stop thinking about the conversation. After finding his seat, he couldn keep his mind off everything happening that most people hadn't noticed. Camo wants to eliminate what he thinks to be threats to all of Remnant. So why target someone training to become a Huntsmen? Eclipse wants to build an unstoppable army, yet they have many mercenaries at their service. Ironwood and Ozpin want to protect the world, and think Camo is overreacting to something. But who is the new person trying to find Onyx? What do they want?

Onyx is dead, but they either don't know, or won't believe it. The Rider rarely leaves surviving enemies, so this is someone who sees Onyx as a threat to their plans. Probably another Rider. Onyx and Camo weren't the only Riders. But they could have just targeted Camo to get Onyx. Targeting crime is only necessary if they need to get Oynx's attention at a specific time.

Then Viridian remembered his encounter with Onyx. One of the Eclipse Scientists knew of Torchwick's plan to cause a Grimm attack. But Torchwick only caused the attack because RWBY found him. _Unless Torchwick was supposed to wait to attack at a specific time. Like the other criminals are waiting now._

Whoever the mastermind is, they want to use the Grimm attack as part of their plan. That's not Eclipse's style. They want to cause problems, using the Grimm attacks. But why? What don't I know? _Roman Torchwick. The White Fang._ Viridian never learned any of what Roman Torchwick and the White Fang were working to achieve. _I need to find Ruby._

"All right, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!" Oobleck announced.

"It looks like our first contender is..." Professor Port paused to wait for the random selection. "Penny Polendina from Atlas." _She's one of Electricities teammates._ The next selection ended. "And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!" _Exactly like Bog predicted! Whatever was being planned, it's happening right now._


	25. Sound and Fury

**And so, we reach the beginning of the fall of Beacon. But be reminded, we will be encounter some characters that readers of the Rider trilogy would think to be dead, ENTIRE. TEAMS. of OCs from my brother, and witness the destruction of ones soul, the breaking of legs, and the blinding of an eye. Wait til you see the credits at the end of the last chapter to explain which OCs belong to the each of use.**

 **I wrote this chapter imediately after the previous one was put up. I'm hoping to get all of the next few like this.**

* * *

 **...**

 _"Have you been using my research?" Dr. Rifleman asked._

 _"What gave you that idea?" Ironwood questioned._

 _"The only way your aura technology would get this advanced so quickly is if you made a breakthrough from unethical research." Dr. Rifleman answered._

 _"Why is that?" Ironwood asked._

 _"I won bore you calculations. I'm just letting you know you might not have needed me." Dr. Rifleman explained. "It seems that fate doesn't want this girl to die yet."_

...

Viridian attempted to call Ruby. There was no response. He nudged Rusty. "I need to know something."

"What?" He asked.

"Penny. She has guards watching her constantly, and teammates that work for Camo. Why's she so important?" Viridian asked.

"She's a robot with a soul." Rusty whispered.

"What? How is that possible." Viridian questioned.

"I don't know. But I've never seen anything like it before." Rusty answered.

"Let me know how the fight ends, I need to go look for Ruby." Viridian explained.

"Why? What's going on." Rusty asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's good." Viridian answered.

"Well, I can help speed up the search." Grey interjected. "She went to the maintenance. I think she's trying to stop the fight." Grey explained.

"Why would she do that?" Viridian asked.

"Because I think Nikos is the one with the Polarity semblance. And I think someone wants to expose Penny as a robot using that semblance." Grey answered, pulling out his compass.

"Who would do that?" Rusty asked.

"Your brother threatened to do it as blackmail. And if he told Dr. Apollo, they could be making good on their threats." Grey answered.

"This is bigger than Eclipse. I think it's what Roman Torchwick and the White Fang were waiting for." Viridian said.

"Whatever it is, we can't fight it if Camo's on your trail." Grey reminded.

"So what are you going to do about?" Viridian asked.

...

Silicon observed the fight between Pyrrha and Penny, while simultaneously scanning the area with his semblance.

"Everyone report in." Camo ordered for everyone he trusted to report of their progress every couple of minutes on what they were observing.

"I have found nothing suspicious near Vale." Light explained. He was accompanied by Limone and Macaw.

"Everything seems clear around Beacon." Anna noted.

"I'm sensing some unusual activity at the Amity Colosseum, within the maintenance area." Silicon explained.

"What is it?" Camo asked.

"I hope I am mistaken, but it seems that Mercury Black and Ruby Rose are both trepassing in the area." Silicon answered.

"That's impossible! Black's leg was broken. You have to be mistaken." Anna noted.

"Even if that were the case, there are trespassers in the area." Silicon replied.

"Get over there and investigate." Camo ordered.

"That's not the only thing. Someone in the stadium is using a semblance to alter the fight." Silicon warned. "And I believe I have located Dr. Rifleman amongst the audience."

"You're already in the stadium. Rose can handle herself. We need to find Rifleman and see what she knows." Camo concluded.

"Rifleman isn't using her semblance, and she's positioned to observe the semblance user and maintenance area. She's likely to escape." Silicon noted.

"I'm going after Rifleman. I want everyone else waiting near the exits incase she tries to leave early." Camo ordered.

"I also believe Viridian may be in the Colluseum, headed towards Rose and Black." Silicon concluded his report.

"Dealing with Viridian can wait. Let's hope he doesn't cause any inconveniences. The others are more pressing matters." Camo replied. Silicon closed his scroll.

"Professor Silicon, you mind if we chat for a second?" Grey asked, walking in front of him.

"Whatever this is, I don't have time for it." Silicon warned subtlety, making his voice sound more inconvenienced than threatening.

"Which is exactly why I'm slowing you down." Grey answered. "I'm done letting you people hunt my friend." Grey explained.

"This isn't about Viridian. This is about the Tournament." Silicon warned.

"Sure it is." Grey said sarcastically.

"I think we both know there's more to this fight than meets the eye." Silicon explained.

"The question is, how do I know you're not part of the problem?" Grey asked.

"You don't, but I do know that if we hesitate now, people could die." Silicon answered. He pushed past Grey. Suddenly, a cloaked figure appeared in front of him.

"I informed you of Dr. Rifleman's location and Camo's secrecy. Now you need to know that Beacon will be attacked." The figure spoke with an echoey voice, as if it noises were bouncing around inside Silicon's head. Silicon recalled the illusion of Dr. Artemis used to direct Camo back to General Ironwood after their attack on Eclipse's headquarters during the Breach.

"Who are you, and what do you want now?" Silicon asked.

"I am Achroma. And I want to bring an Age of Chaos." The cloaked figure answered.

...

Viridian entered the maintenance area. He could hear the sounds of fighting, which he followed to find Mercury kicking Ruby into a wall. "Mercury." Viridian said.

"I don't think we met." Mercury noted.

"Nope. But I promised Yang I'd break your legs if I found out you deserved it." Viridian replied. "And something tells me she'd break your legs if she saw what you're doing."

...

Dr. Rifleman watched the tournament fight. "If you're here in the open, you either assumed I wouldn't be looking, or you wanted me to find you." Camo concluded.

"Or maybe I doubted you'd do anything in front of all these witnesses. General Ironwood is just a few rows down, you know." Dr. Rifleman commented.

"What are you here for?" Camo asked.

"The Vytal Tournament. Have you been that buried in your work that you forgot?" Dr. Rifleman replied sarcastically.

"When did you start caring?" Camo asked.

"You don't care that anyone might overhear?" Dr. Rifleman asked back.

"Selective attention. People tend to ignore side conversations when there's loud commentary, plenty of roaring, and a fight to watch." Camo answered.

"And the fight is very important." Dr. Rifleman replied. "Just yesterday, it looked like someone lost a leg."

"What makes you think didn't?" Camo questioned.

"You can only put so much firepower in a pair of boots without taking away the legs." Dr. Rifleman answered. "But I think you really should be watching the fight."

Camo looked to see the fighters. Pyrrha Nikos was facing Penny Polendina.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't have been able to stop it from happening." Dr. Rifleman said. "Even if Silicon makes it past Grey and Achroma's illusion to reach Emerald in time, Reggie Heliotrope will do her job for her. And if Reggie doesn't do it, then Achroma will."

"And what if I stop them both?" Camo asked.

"You won't. I'm certain Anna told you about the Heliotrope's aura concealing abilities." Dr. Rifleman reminded. "And if you haven't figured out who Achroma is yet, you won't do it in time to stop what's coming."

"But you could have stopped this before it happened." Camo responded.

"This can't be prevented. If it's not the tournament, it's the attack on Beacon or the CCT getting hijacked." Dr. Rifleman replied. "It doesn't matter if Onyx survived his fight with Umbra, or if Night doesn't take his sabbatical. The only thing powerful enough to end this are gods, and none of them are on your side."

Just before Silicon reach Emerald, Pyrrha used a powerful magnetic blast. The strings connecting Penny's weapons wrapped around her and sliced her body apart, exposing her robotic insides to the audience, who looked with surprise, horror, and confusion. "This is why you created Viridian." Camo realized.

"This is destiny, Forrest. I warned all of you that this would happen, and no one listened." Dr. Rifleman explained. "But now, you can see for yourselves."

...


	26. Running towards danger

**I was originally planning for Viridian to "befriend" Mercury at some point, but I felt it would be better for if Virdian knew as little about the main plot as possible for reasons that will come up later in his storyline. But I wasn't going to get rid of this fight. It's the point where the canon story and this storyline cross paths, and diverge to create new results.**

* * *

...

 _A Huntsman arrived to the scene of a hostage crisis, where several police were surrounding a bank. His eyes were filled with excitement. He slid two knuckledusters onto his bare hands. He wore a red leather jacket, over a grey t-shirt, paired with tan cargo pants and white armored boots._

 _"Why can't crime take one holiday off to watch the tournament." A police Officer complained, as he lit a cigar._

 _"What's the situation here?" The Huntsman asked, pulling out his Huntsman liscense before the Officer could ask any questions._

 _"A woman, Sandra Salmon, almost got busted on a kidnapping attempt." The Officer explained._ _"We chased her, but she holed up inside the building and used some kind of dust to knock out some residents while they were throwing a party in the building. She's threatening to kill them if we move in."_

 _"The SDC is making Sleeping Dust now?" The Huntsman questioned. Dust normally manipulated elements, and many new Dust type were being discovered._

 _"No, the other kind of dust. It's her Semblance. Part of how she kidnaps her victims." The Officer clarified._

 _"We need to get in there and rescue the Hostages." The Huntsman concluded. He knocked his fists together._

 _"The plan is to wait. Her sembalance drains aura to keep people pacified, and normally she only uses it on a few people at a time. When her aura goes down, and the Hostages start waking up, we move in." The Officer replied. He pulled out a large revolver._

 _"That won't work. She's stalling for time, so she can escape with the hostages." The Huntsman realized. The excitement in his eyes were replaced with concern._

 _"We have the whole building surrounded. There's no way she's getting out with a single hostage." The Officer reassured._

...

"After 16 years ago today, Sandra Salmon remains at large. There has been no sign of her, or the hostages she took since." A news report played on a cracked television screen. It was likely the only television screen not watching the Vytal Tournament. This was a recording, from a few days prior.

A man stared at the screen. His eyes were filled with rage. He wore a black leather jacket over red body armor. His grey armored boots connected to his dark grey cargo pants. He felt his apartment being shaken by loud noises from outside. He put on a helmet with a skull design, and a pair of knuckledusters.

...

Mercury carefully watched both Viridian and Ruby, anticipating to counter their first move against him. There wasn't much the two could do to ruin the plan, but it was best not to take chances.

"Get out of here. He can't keep us both busy." Viridian said.

"What about you?" Ruby asked.

"I'll be fine." Viridian assured.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Mercury commented. Viridian ran towards Mercury, preparing a right hook. Mercury reacted quickly, performing a roundhouse kick. Viridian ducked, adjusting his punch to connect to Mercury's groin. "That was a cheap shot."

"This isn't the tournament." Viridian replied. Viridian jumped off a wall to gain momentum for a kick. Mercury quickly jumped to dodge, and followed by landing a kick on Viridian's head. He performed a combo of kicked, utilizing his boots weapon in the finishing strike. Viridian was knocked through a wall. Mercury quickly ran after Ruby, with no intention of letting her headstart allow her to escape.

...

Camo looked at a Nevermore, attempting to breach a barrier at the top of the Amity Colluseum. "Camo, there's an everyone is evacuating. What's going on?" Anna asked, from outside one of the doors.

"Either someone enabled friendly fire protocol on the General's airship again, or it got hijacked and took out the other airships." Limone pointed out.

"Achroma, the one who created the illusion from the Eclipse lab, warned that Beacon would be attacked next." Silicon explained. "I returned to the school to be certain, and it is being attacked by the White Fang and Grimm as we speak."

"Dr. Rifleman just warned me. She's convinced that this is an unavoidable outcome." Camo explained.

"There's more. There's a group of criminals from assorted affialtions joining the attack. Being lead by someone claiming to be Desmond Night." Silicon warned.

"But it is not truly him." Light concluded.

"No. Different armor. He appears to be a desendant of Pallium." Silicon observed.

"It's probably one of the new Riders Eclipse recruited." Anna concluded.

"We need to get over there, as quickly as possible." Camo concluded.

"There's no point. You can't set these things out of motion." Dr. Rifleman warned.

Camo's eyes flashed green. "Even you can't see everything coming." He opened a portal, aware that most of the remaining bystanders were either distracted, or familiar with the Riders secrets.

...

Rusty sat, starring at the remains of Penny. "Rusty, we need to go." Electricity warned, attempting to pull him from his seat.

"Whoever palnned this needs to pay." Rusty spoke in an uncharacteristically vengeful tone.

Grey called his entire team from his scroll's communications. "I got good news and bad news." He explained. "Good news is that Camo is distracted again. Bad news is that Atlas just lost control of their ships."

"Well, Shadowhawk can fly us out of here until things blow over, without anyone getting suspicious." Indigo replied.

"Or you could fly us up to the airship to help." Electricity reminded.

"As long as the Grimm don't kill me before I can get to you. Or after." Indigo said.

"How quickly can you get here?" Rusty asked.

"I'm already on board. Just need to take off and not die." Indigo answered.

"Get here as soon as you can." Grey ordered.

"Where's Viridian?" Indigo asked. Viridian hadn't answered his scroll.

...

As Viridian walked through the halls, he suddenly stopped, and knelt to the ground. Shadows seemed to circle him, and his eyes glowed red. He watched as people ran past him, trying to escape the colluseum. He saw Mercury and Emerald following them. And he wasn't going to let them get away.


	27. Identity

**This fight scene was taking so long, I had to split it from the previous chapter.**

...

 _Desmond Night sat at a bar, watching the Vytal Tournament spiral out of control._

 _"This was not a tragedy. This was not an is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men."_

 _"They need you, you know..."_

 _Desmond turned to the doorway where a woman dressed in green stands._

 _"All your brothers are there. You should join them."_

 _Desmond turned back to the bar. He grabbed his helmet from the counter and put it on, a crimson portal opening behind him._

...

Jay Heliotrope gave every criminal in Vale two choices. Either help create chaos in Beacon, or remain quiet until the end of the tournament.

"Alright, since you all waited so patiently, you have my permission to return to your evil ways." Jay reported over his scroll. "I'm just going to have to borrow some grunts for a few minutes, but they'll be fine."

Every criminal that agreed to not attack Beacon was fighting off Grimm to defend their territory. Xiong grabbed his new rocket launcher and started firing on airborne Grimm. "Even when Bog loses, he wins!" Xiong shouted angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Choppa asked. He used a pair of brass knuckles to punched through a Beowolve's chest.

"He called the Grimm attack." Poole explained, while slicing an Ursa's head off with a sword that hadn't seen much use since the Great War.

The new Rider appeared, walking over with his skull helmet and knuckledusters. He pulled on two mechanism resembling pistol hammers, which transformed the knuckledusters into pistols. "I knew this peace and quiet wasn't going to last." He said, as he pulled on triggers in the knuckledusters to start firing on the Grimm. "You're going to tell me who did this, or I'm going to break your face."

...

Camo exited his portal to join Silicon. More portals opened, transporting the rest of the Ghosts.

Jay Heliotrope approached them, followed by an army of criminals he recruited. Camo fires a pistol shot at his head, but Jay swings it out of the bullets path. Jay slowly cracked his neck. "So, I take it you were the Aquamarine body double." Jay presumed.

"And here you are, impersonating Night." Camo replied. "I take it you've been at it for a while."

"The easiest way to hid a secret is hide is to hide it behind a bigger secret." Jay replied. "I knew that if you heard rumors that Night was alive, you'd dismiss it because you already know that to be the case. Which made him a perfect disguise for my actions."

"I know you. Jay Heliotrope of the Court of the Riders." Light recognized.

"Yes, and I believe you met my brothers, Reggie, Liam and Turk." The other three Heliotropes stood on a nearby .

"Did they bring Onyx Rider?" Turk, the Brute, asked.

"We alre told you. Onyx Rider is dead." Macaw reminded.

"Then you won't stand a chance." Reggie replied. He was the Executioner. He walked with his axe over his shoulders.

"We came prepared for your worst." Liam, The Sniper, pulled a sword from his shield. The sword also doubled as his sniper.

"Seriously?" Limone questioned. "You're not just fighting several Rider's, but a few professional Huntsmen. You might have us outnumbered, but last I checked, children going to this school could plow through that army of crooks you gathered."

"They're only here to draw out Grimm and exploit the chaos across the Vale." Dr. Sol Apollo explained.

"Speaking of which, you guys should probably get around to the pillaging and burning." Jay reminded. His army started marching towards Vale.

"We have other things to handle you." Dr. Apollo finished. He opened a pod, releasing the only successful Black Ghost test subject. The Grimm-human hybrid was consumed by the chaos spreading across Vale, and it created a shadowy aura as it's eyes glowed red.

Camo pulled out dual pistols, and fired at Jay Heliotrope. Jay charged forwards, deflecting shots with his cane. As he grew closer, Jay performed a spinning strike with cane, knocking one of Camo's guns out of his hand. Jay jumped backwards into the air, deflecting shots Camo fired in his direction. Jay suddenly flew towards Camo, as if being carried by an invisible hand. Jay launched a barage of quick kicks as he flew into his opponent. Camo was knocked into a wall. Jay leap off of Camo's chest, and performed a spinning drop kick with movements that defied gravity.

Reggie Heliotrope swung his axe at Light, who dodged easily. Reggie leapt and slammed down his axe, which Light jumped backwards to avoid. Reggie quickly charged forward, using the handle of his axe to pin Light against a wall. Reggie headbutted Light while he was held in place. Light suddenly dematerialized, rematerializing behind Reggie. Light used his railgun to blast Reggie through the wall.

Turk Heliotrope rushed towards Anna, spinning his flail. Anna quickly powered up to her second Verto level, and used her speed to dodge his flail slamming, which created an explosion of Ice Dust. Anna jump kicked the Brute, then swung her katana at him. The brute caught her arm, and slammed her against the ground. He followed up by stomping on her chest.

Macaw's axe was blocked by Liam's shield. Macaw followed with an overhead attack, using an extra swing in an attempt to feint, but Liam still rolled out of the way. Macaw quickly performed another swing, which Liam quickly dodged. Liam switch to the offensive, swinging his sword to attack Macaw.

Limone fired grenades at Black Ghost. The berserking creature charged at Limone. Limone fired a grenade at the ground to blast himself into he air, and fired more shots at Black Ghost. Dr. Apollo fired a laser from his eye at Limone, knocking the Huntsman into a bench. "Why am I fighting two of them?" Limone questioned.

A chained blade strikes Dr. Apollo's back, bypassing his aura. "GET OVER HERE!" Desmond Night pulled the Doctor close, and kicked him off of the weapon. Jay Heliotrope back flipped off of Camo, landing behind Night. Night turned quickly, and used a wrist blade to block Jay's can strike. "I heard you've been impersonating me." Night commented.

"Took you long enough. You're the close thing to a challenge I found in weeks." Jay replied. He activated his Verto, creating an aura of purple smoke. Jay took multiple swings from his cane, which Night blocked with the armor on his gauntlets. Jay threw a high kick, which Night caught. Jay quickly spun, using his other leg to kick Night in the side of the head. Jay balanced himself on his cane as he spun himself to regain footing. Night rushed forwards, grabbing Jay's cane with one arm, and punching him in the gut with the other. Night slammed down his fists with a Double Axe Handle.

The Brute suddenly interfered, charging into Night and pinning him against a tree with one arm. "Are you Onyx Rider?" He asked, readying his mace with his free hand.

"No." Night answered. Night kneed the Brute in the groin, and pushed him away. As the Brute knelt down in pain, Jay jumped off of his back to perform a spinning drop kick against Night. Night was knocked through the tree, and into Light.

Reggie Heliotrope switched focus to the others, who was recovering from Turk's attack. He grabbed her by the back of the neck, and slammed her face against the ground. "Stay down kid, the big boys are fighting." Reggie warned mockingly, before kicking her while she was down. He attacked Macaw from behind, while he was distracted by Liam. Liam bashed his shield against Macaw's face. Reggie grappled Macaw, smashing his knee against his head. "I thought you said this guys were going to be a challenge, Jay!" Reggie shouted.

"I'm disappointed to. You'd think the Umbra Agency would have trained them better than this." Jay replied.

A flash of burning crimson light appeared. A man clad in black and red armor appeared. His boots had silver highlights around them. A black jumpsuit covered what his armor did not. His black gauntlets, and shoulder armor were connected to peices of silver armor on his arms. His torso armor was silveer, with some red highlights over his chest, on his back and near his shoulders. His belt was gold, and connected black armored guards that covered his thighs.

"Is that Onyx Rider?" Turk asked. He swung his mace at the man, who reflexively caught the weapon. A helmet formed around his head before he used his free hand to fire a crimson energy blast at Turk using the Rider's ruina ability.

"It's him." Jay answered. "There's no mistaking it. That is Onyx Rider."


	28. Around every corner

**Onyx Rider. My brother wanted him to come back during the Battle of Beacon. Since I was already planning on writing this during Volume 3, so I got handed the task of combining the resurrection with my own storyline. Speaking of my brother, he handed you guys a long intro here.**

* * *

 **...**

 _The Crimson One watched as the Grimm attack Vale from atop a building._

 _"Mind a little company?"_

 _The Crimson One turned to see the Chaos Bringer approaching._

 _"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"_

 _The Chaos Bringer stopped next to the Crimson One who turned back to Vale_

 _"You know, I always wanted to ask you: are you still mad at me for killing you?"_

 _"This battle is not like the ones you and I have always fought."_

 _The Chaos Bringer turned to Vale._

 _"No kidding. Those were the days, right?"_

 _The Crimson One ignored him._

 _"Anyway, you're always so dramatic."_

 _The Chaos Bringer groaned._

 _"I'm sure someone will do something. This will all work itself out somehow."_

 _"I'm serious." The Crimson one turned to the Chaos Bringer._

 _"Of course you are. You're always serious." The Chaos Bringer also turned, "But now you've got me curious. What else is bothering the great Onyx Rider. Aside from the obvious, that is."_

 _They both turned back to Vale._

 _"This is the beginning of the end. We have never known this level of chaos. First, you were out of control, now Salem has made her move and will destroy the Kingdoms with her war. Perhaps our species have run their courses. If we do not utterly destroy ourselves, the Gods will one day end them for us."_

 _"You mean the Teyvīka? You've gotten paranoid in your old age, Onyx. They're not gods. They're no greater than us. In fact, I'm half convinced they're just old legends."_

 _"They are coming."_

 _The Chaos Bringer looked at the Crimson One._

 _"Really? So now you're a soothsayer?"_

 _The Crimson One turned back_ _to the Chaos Bringer._

 _"I once was merged with the Reservoir of the Riders. It contained within the souls of all Riders throughout the past, present, and future. And there comes a time when there are no Riders."_

 _The two turned back to the battle_

 _"That ancient relic? It was meant for the days when Prodromus needed to be brought down."_

 _"The Gods will soon walk amongst us again."_

 _"Oh my, Onyx. You're worse off then I ever imagined. I don't know why I'm even bothering to talk to you."_

 _The Chaos Bringer began walking away._

 _"Umbra."_

 _"Oh what is it now?" The Chaos Bringer looked back at the Crimson One._

 _He raised his hand for a shake._

 _"Goodbye."_

 _The Chaos Bringer stared at the hand and laughed._

 _"You're precious."_

 _He continued walking away. The Crimson One turned back to the battle, crimson flames building around his body. He took off and flew away. The Chaos Bringer stopped for a moment to watch him leave_.

 _..._

Onyx stood, his crimson aura glowing through as night started to fall.

"You really don't die, Demon." Anna groaned, as she got up from the ground.

"I knew I wasn't crazy when I sensed your aura again." Night said.

"He was just waiting to make a dramatic entrance. As usual." Camo replied.

"Actually, I was having a friendly chat with Umbra. Took longer than I realized." Onyx answered.

"Let me guess. Now that you're all here, you think you're going to just fight us for real and suddenly win." Jay asked. He activated the second level of his Verto. "Well, we still got a few tricks up our sleeves."

A portal opened. The infamous mercenary known as Ghost Nightingale walked through. He was better known by the codename. "Noctis." Light growled. Noctis may have been wearing new armor, a new mask, and likely a new face beneath it, but he could recognize the aura of his nigh-immortal nemesis.

"Light. I brought a couple of old friends of mine to crash this party. You won't mind, will you?" Noctis replied casually, as he loaded the revolver he was holding with his right hand and kept the portal open.

A blur of green energy blasted out of the portal, and zoomed towards a distant Rooftop. The purple cloaked Marda Resenda aimed her bow towards the group. She drew back her bow, aiming carefully from the distance.

The scout Megan Xanadu ran through the portal with an assault rifle. She watched the Ghosts, who were waiting as Noctis summoned more of his allies. She reached for her knife, preparing in case anyone moves suddenly.

Athena Laffa flew into the air with the aide of her armor's wings and her semblance, which were provided by Gunmetal Industries. She dual wielded weapons that were a combinations Katars and SMGs.

The bow weilding Stella Quicksilver, walked out with her left hand attached to her sheathed Wakazashi. Her sheathe was attached to the quiver for her bow, which was held in her other hand.

The Rider Catalina Ceila drew her katana as she exited the portal. Her armor was personalized more stylistically, including a combat skirt and a hood. She disappeared, using her semblance to conceal her movements.

Dutch Sterling charged through the portal, ready for a fight. His sleaves were rolled up, his shotgun was locked and loaded, and he had knives he could readily draw. He also had plenty of ammo to spare.

Sharpshooter Vance Vestor walked through the portal, aiming his rifle ahead of him. He kept quickly point his gun to each of his enemies, as he moved backwards to gain distance. He loaded the weapon before deactivating it's safety.

The blind swordsman Hyacinth Midori dragged his katana across the ground. His semblance supercharged his senses, and he heavily used his hearing to compensate for his blindness. One of his gauntlets included moving parts that created noises to help his echolocation. He also held a throwing knife, which he prepared to toss it.

Flora Thara jumped through the portal, and sank through the ground as if it weren't solid. She reappeared next to Noctis, and aimed two gauntlet blasters. She started punching at the air, jumping back and forth.

Faunus cyborg Mason Tanner, also known as Scorpio, leapt through the portal, and made a three point landing. His cybernetic tail also functioned as chainsaw, which he allowed to drag across the ground as he walked forwards.

Jasper Bruno, a knife weilding merc. He had 3 large knives on his back, 3 small knives on his shoulder. He stretched his arms, letting his sleaveless armor show off his muscles. His helmet hid all of his head, but his short black hair.

The hulking Ray Grall marched through the portal, with his shoulder cannons ready to fire. He cracked his knuckles before moving into a combat stance. His armor was bulkier than the others, making him resemble Turk Heliotrope.

A tall robot with glowing red eyes walked out first. It's two arms suddenly split into six, and it drew as many daggers. It quickly observed it's surroundings and everyone nearby. It search through it's database for useful information.

"Time to set up the friendly protocols." The cyborg Prometheus Steele replied. He used his family Semblance to modify the target programming on the robot. Prometheus suddenly moved parts of his cybernetic arms to form two chainsaws near his arms.

"The Nightingale order. They can't have been cheap." Onyx commented.

"Of course not. But lucky for them, some of us are doing this one for free." Noctis replied. "They only payed half the normal price to get all of us in one place."

"Well, maybe being together in one place wasn't the best plan." Onyx replied.

Brass Mirro dropped out of the sky, and punched the ground with the full force of his Semblance, and creating a shockwave that shook the entire school. Even most of the Riders were shaken. Only Onyx, Silicon, Night, Light, Noctis, and Camo were unfazed.

"I told once, I've told you a hundred times, give us a warning before you use the punch!" His twin, Volt Mirro shouted another reminder.

"But last time, Onyx said..." Brass complained.

"Last time, it was just us." Onyx reminded.

...

Shadowhawk landed at the Amity Colosseum. "You found Viridian yet?" Indigo asked.

"No. He went looking for Ruby." Grey explained.

"I tried calling over his locker, incase he calls it back." Rusty explained.

"Well, Ruby's over there." Indigo pointed. Ruby jumped off a transport, and rushed to reenter the Colosseum.

"Hey! Ruby!" Rusty called. Ruby stopped and turned. "You know where Viridian is?" He asked.

"He was fighting Mercury." Ruby explained.

"Oh, it's fine, he's just beating up a cripple kid." Indigo replied.

"That's not normal." Electricity commented.

"It's normal where I grew up." Indigo shrugged. Vacuo can be a cruel place sometimes.

"Mercury was fine." Ruby pointed out.

"How? Yang broke his leg! He should be using crutches or metal knees or soemthing!" Indigo questioned.

"I don't know, but we have more important things to worry about." Ruby answered. "Can you get me to General Ironwood's airship."

"That's what you're wondering?" Indigo asked, amused. She fired up the engines again, preparing for another takeoff.

...

Cardin and his team boarded an evacuation shuttle. Cardin looked out a window, and watched Grimm attacking the city of Vale and many of it's vulnerable inhabitants. He saw Atlesian machines turn against the people they once protected. Students were fleeing from Beacon.

And all this was happening while he was running away. "This isn't right. We should be helping." He told himself. We're supposed to be fighting Grimm, not running from them.

"Don't be crazy! There's too many of them!" Russel shouted.

"Huntsmen are supposed to be saving others." He realized. He used to only be concerned with his strength, not what he should be using it for.

"We're not Huntsmen yet." Russel reminded.

"No. But I'm going to prove that I deserve to become one." Cardin answered.

When the shuttle landed, Cardin used his scroll to summon his locker. He grabbed his weapon and carried it with him towards the chaotic fights through the streets of Vale.

...

Mercury broadcasted the fighting across Beacon from his scroll, alongside Emerald and Cinder.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes landed on the rooftop. It approached them slowly, showing few signs of emotion.

"That's not a Grimm." Mercury concluded.

"Is that one of Eclipse's experiments?" Cinder questioned. "I thought Jay said they wouldn't be a problem."

Mercury used his boots to launch himself into the air an overhead kick. The Hybrid caught his left leg, and chopped the leg with it's free hand. It used both hands to hold his Mercury's leg and swing him into a tree. Emerald used one of her chain Scythes to pull the Hybrid back. It grabbed the ground with one arm, and the chain with the other. The Hybrid pulled on the chain, yanking Emerald off of the roof. Mercury attempted to kick the Hybrid while it was recovering, but the Hybrid grabbed his foot. Mercury fired his leg's weapon to free himself. He executed a roundhouse kick, but his foot phased through the Hybrid's chest as if it weren't solid. Mercury fired his leg's weapon to push himself away. The blast also knocked the Hybrid back. He attempted to follow with another ranged blast, but the Hybrid quickly moved forwards and placed it's hands on Mercury's heel to block the blast, which caused damage internal damage to the weapon's inside his legs. Mercury attempted to fire the gun in his other leg, but it malfunctioned due to damage from one of the previous attacks.

"I promised I'd break your legs." Viridian reminded. He used his scroll to call down his locker and retrieve his weapon.


	29. The Ghosts

**I forgot to mention that all of the Ghosts are coming back from the dead. Yeah, sorry about that. But if it means anything, none of them were the guy I claimed people probably think died. He's not a Rider.**

 **While writing this chapter, me and my brother** **forgot Silicon existed. I was trying to count how many of the original test subjects were going to appear in this chapter, because we're planning to put them all in one awesome fight later. I needed to figure out which of them I needed to introduce, and forgot Aero's name. When my brother was counting the original Ghosts, he was counting to 10, and stopped himself claiming there were only 8. I recounted and got nine. Then when I was trying to explain it to my brother, I temporarily forgot about Camo (who I made and is basically the protagonist of this Volume). Then when I realized I wasn't counting him, my brother realized his original number of 10 was correct, and we had to figure out which Ghost we forgot exist. Upon realizing it was Silicon (Who we both wrote with more often than Flame, who we never forgot to count), he made a joke about how irrelevant he's been.**

 **I swear, we don't work for CRWBY.**

 **...**

* * *

 _"You're always making me clean up your messes, Onyx." Camo complained internally, as he walked through a hallway filled with dead policed. He approached the Eclipse Assassin responsible for all the deaths, who was bleeding on the floor from a single gunshot through the chest._

 _"Who are you?" The assassin asked._

 _"I'm a ghost." Camo answered._

 _"What do you want?" The assassin questioned._

 _"Ghost's don't answer questions." Camo replied. He kicked the assassin in the chest._

...

"How many get-out-of-hell-free cards did you guys cash in?" Noctis asked. "I feel offended. Not dying is my Semblance, and you people are just taking death for granted."

"You'll know if you were missing anything soon enough." Light replied, drawing his sword. He swung it at Noctis, who allowed the blade penetrate part of his arm before activating his aura and healing his left arm partially to hold the blade is. He used his right hand to fire his revolver from point blank distance. Light dematerialized to free himself, and stabbed Noctis in the back. Noctis pulled the sword through his own chest, and swung it at Light. Light caught the blade with both arms, and dematerialized it as he dodged an axe swing from Macaw.

Ray Grall and Brass traded blows. Brass caught both of Ray's fists, and kneed him to the chest. He followed with a headbutt to stun Grall, before sending him flying with a powerful uppercut. Dutch Sterling and Megan Xanadu both fired their guns at Volt, who rapidly deflected their shots with his dual tonfas. Brass punch Sterling into Xanadu. Flora Thara attempted to surprise attack Brass by jumping out of the ground and firing, but Volt moved quickly and absorbed the attack before it could reach. He used the energy to slash her before she could use her semblance to evade.

Silicon formed his weapon as a hooked sword, and used it to defend against the attacks of Hyacinth Midori's katana. Silicon blocked a strike from the invisible Catalina Ceila, and kicked her away from him. Midori tossed his throwing knife, which Silicon caught and melted using his semblance. Silicon used pulled Catalina's hood over her eyes before pulling at her leg with the hooksword to knock her to the ground. He turned to block another stroke from Midori's blade. He swung the hook of his blade around Midori's neck, and pulled him closer to punch him in the face.

Camo grabbed Mason Tanner's tail, and suplexed him into the air. He used a roundhouse kick to knock Tanner towards Jasper Bruno. Bruno's semblance caused Tanner to be sent back towards Camo. Camo pulled two pistols, once used by Onyx, and fired at Tanner. Tanner used his tail to deflect the shots, and moved closer towards Camo. Tanner's grabbed Camo, and his tail began slashing at him. Camo opened a portal beneath the two, forcing Tanner to let go to avoid falling through. Camo opened another portal in front Bruno, that caused him to suddenly rush directly behind Tanner and accidentally knock both through the portal. Camo combined the two pistols to form a sniper rifle, which he used to shoot both of the falling mercenaries, as well as Ray Grall.

Anna deflected slashes from the robots dual daggers. She kicked the robot back to gain some distance. "Soaring Fireworks!" She fired a barrage of explosions that pushed the robot further away. It's torso rose, extending to reveal another pair of arms. Both arms equipped another pair of daggers, which it started swinging towards Anna. She quickly jumped over the robot and kicked it's head. It used a tail to catch her sword as she attempted to cut off the head. It grew taller, and drew more daggers. She created a dome to block the robot from charging her.

A fireball crashed into Athena at incredible speeds. She was knocked into Vance Vestor. Pheonix Flame, another of the original Riders floated with his arms folded. Two swords flew off of Flame's backpack, and into his hands. He flew towards Stella Quicksilver, only this time using his swords to attack.

Camo opened a portal to jump behind Anna. He used his semblance to deactivate the robot. "Go help Limone." Camo ordered.

"Isn't he your friend?" Anna asked.

"Friend is a strong word." Camo replied. He opened another portal. "Now go. We can't let Apollo get away."

...

Marda Resenda drew back her bow, aiming at Flame from a distance. However, her vision became replaced with black, as if her eyes were forcibly shut. The sounds of fighting and screams of terror completely vanished, almost as if she had been taken somewhere else. She could not even hear her own voice.

A Man in Black Armor similar to Onyx appeared. His armor had a long waist cape and bulkier shoulder armor.

"This is the beginning of the end." His voice seemed to echo within Marda's head.

"Your allies cannot save you. You've distanced yourself from the battlefield. And now, you're alone with me." The silence seemed to amplify his voice.

Marda fired arrows, but she could not see them after they were fired. The man walked closer, and she walked back. "There is nowhere for you to run." Suddenly, Marda's legs stopped, and she could no longer move them.

She continued firing arrows, which still had no effect. "Your weapons cannot harm me. Resistance is pointless." Suddenly, Marda's hands dropped her bow and arrow, and she no longer had control of them.

"There was nothing you can do. You are powerless to stop me." He grabbed Marda by the throated, and lifted her up. Her limbs hung helplessly, as her body was no longer under her control.

"You lost this fight before it started." Effortlessly, he tossed Marda to the side, and she fell through blackness, seeing and hearing nothing. Not even the Man in Black Armor. The next thing she felt was a painful impact against the ground.

...

General Ironwood's airship had several Eclipse affiliated prisoners aboard, hearing it the sounds of fighting from just outside their cells.

Damascus Steele threw a metal ball against a wall.

Teal Aquamarine leaned against a wall with his arms folded.

Dr. Artemis sat patiently staring at the door.

Sunny Reyes adjusted his sunglasses.

Ash Vulcan leaned against his door to listen.

Andrew Cyclone meditated on the floor.

Flint Quicksilver sat with his head down.

Timber Fenris cracked his knuckles and growled like like wild animal.

Redd Barnes smirked, enjoying the sounds of his captors being assaulted.

T'Angelo stretched her arms as she got up from her bed.

Joe Vargas continued his pushups.

His son, Paolo Vargas lit a cigarette that he smuggled into his cell.

And the final prisoner simply laid back in his bed.

After the fighting ended, there was only the sounds of Roman Torchwick's voice. "You planning to open our cells?" Aquamarine asked.

He pushed a button which opened all of the prison cells. "So that's what that button does." He continued pressing buttons.

The escaping prisoners retrieved their confiscated weapons and accessories.

...

Viridian started throwing a combinations of jabs at Mercury, which he blocked carefully. Mercury jumped against a wall, and leapt off it to go over Viridian. However, he seemed to fly off in three different directions, and there were now three Mercury's rushing towards Viridian preparing for completely different attacks from separate angles. Viridian blocked the attacks from the real Mercury, ignoring the fakes.

"My semblance isn't working on him. It's like he knows they're not real." Emerald realized.

"He can sense Aura. Illusions of people aren't going to work on him." Cinder warned Emerald.

"Jay was supposed to keep them busy. Now what do we do?" Emerald asked.

"The plan is still the same. Just keep him busy." Cinder answered. She quickly ran after Pyrrha Nikos, who was unaware she was being followed by anyone other than Jaune Arc. Viridian fired a grapple hook to reach the rooftop. He swung Jaded Edge overhead, which Emerald jumped out of the way off. She fired a barrage of bullets which turned out to be illusions. Viridian prepared to blocked them, only to have slowed down for nothing. He fired an explosive arrow at Emerald, who jumped out of the way. Viridian rushed past jumping towards a Beowolf, and sliced it in half. Rather than fading into nothing, the Grimm's body transformed into a black smoke which formed around Viridian. He was now larger, faster, and stronger.

...

Bismuth Steele used his staff to grab an Ursa's head and crush it. He was leading Atlesian robots to protect Beacon. Prometheus Steele rushed in, using his chainsaws to slice at Bismuth. Bismuth split his staff into two large wrenches, and caught both saws. Prometheus Steele kicked the Bismuth away. Bismuth grabbed a fallen Atlesian soldiers rifle and fired it at Prometheus. One of Prometheus's chainsaws came apart, transforming it's nanomachines into a shield.

The Atlesian machines were reprogrammed from General Ironwood's ship. Bismuth quickly observed, and reformed his staff to deflect their fire. He moved quickly, using his semblance to deactivate any of them that he could touch. "Why are you doing this? People are going to get killed!" Bismuth shouted.

"As long as I get payed, I don't care." Prometheus replied.

"Prometheus? I thought you were dead." Bismuth was surprised.

Prometheus laughed. "Yeah, that's been going around. I just ran into some dead guys a minute ago." One of his arms flew off, attempting to rocket punch Bismuth. Bismuth deflected it, and it fell apart into nanomachines that flew back to Prometheus.

"Why can't dead people stay dead?" Bismuth asked.

...

Limone was slammed against a wall by Black Ghost. He managed to fire a grenade at it's foot to free himself. He dodged a laser from Dr. Apollo, and fired back to knock away the scientist. "Why do I fight the Grimm monster?" He asked. Atlesian robots started targeting Black Ghost, not needing to differentiate it from the Grimm. Black Ghost shifted it's attention, attacking the robots. The Atlesian robots suddenly reset their programming, and turned to target Limone. "What! Who enabled Friendly Fire protocol?" Limone shouted, as he dodged their fire.

A man in Cyan armor approached. His armor had a long waist cape and bulky shoulder armor, like the Man in Black Armor. He swung a lamp at the robots, creating an explosion of that cleared them. Black Ghost looked towards him and growled. The man's helmet collapsed into his armor. His eyes remained closed as Black Ghost charged at him. He caught it's fist without looking. Then, he opened his eyes and a blast of glowing silver light pushed Black Ghost away.

"Aero Artemis. Or should I call you Mason Windsor? I take it that all of the fallen Ghosts have been resurrected." Dr. Apollo commented.

"Dr. Apollo. I see you've accomplished your goal. I don't understand why you are here." Aero replied.

"Science includes testing our experiments. And there is still much data that I need to gather." Dr. Apollo answered.

"Fortunately for you, failure is a great source of data." The Man in Black Armor seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" Dr. Apollo questioned.

"I am Shadow." The Man in Black Armor answered.

Anna jumped through Camo's portal, and used her katana to block a laser from Dr. Apollo.

Black Ghost ran towards Shadow. Shadow drew a scythe, and rushed at him with great speed, using the scythe to slam Black Ghost into a wall. "Fall." He commanded. Black Ghost collapsed to the ground. "You are strong. But not strong enough." Shadow explained. "You lack the training to break through my defenses. You lack the determination to endure my attacks. You lack the experience to outwit my tactics. You were not ready for this fight." Aero unleashed another blast from his Silver Eyes, while Shadow swung his Scythe again.

...

The Shadowhawk flew over General Ironwood's airship, preparing to land. "If I can get to the Bridge, I should be able to override the robots."

The VIRG members scrolls received a call simultaneously. Grey answered. "Guys, Emerald, Mercury, their entire team is up to something!" Viridian shouted.

"Viridian! Where are you!" Ruby asked.

"I was just fighting Emerald and Mercury." Viridian answered. "One of their teammates, is headed for Beacon Tower. I'm trying to catch slow her down, but it be good if some of you guys got here first."

"I just flew up all the way up to the airship!" Indigo complained.

"Well, going down is always easier." Viridian replied.

"Rusty and I can take handle this, then we'll catch up to." Ruby ordered. She grabbed Rusty and jumped out of the airship.

"Wait, we're using landing strategies again?!" Rusty shouted. The two rolled over the top of the airship.

The Shadowhawk flew back towards Beacon.

...

Night jumped over Liam Heliotrope and lept off a wall to dropkick him from behind. Night fell through a portal that dropped him in front of Jay Heliotrope, allowing Night to sweep kick him off his feet, and punch him while he was on the ground. Turk Heliotrope swing his mace, but Night caught it and turned to stab his belt, and use it as leverage to judo throw Turk on top of Jay. Night launched his wrist blade to pull Reggie Heliotrope towards him, elbowing him into another portal. The portal dropped Reggie on top of Liam.

"That's it? Are you really Night?" Jay questioned, as he pushed Turk off of him, and the four brothers got up from the ground. He started swinging his cane at Night. "What happened to the sadistic killer that attacked Beacon? He wouldn't have shown any mercy."

Night evaded the cane, trapping it inside of an explosive clone. "That was Umbra. Not me." Night responded. He launched his wristblade towards Jay, who flipped out of the way.

"And here I was worried you might have been a threat as Onyx." Jay taunted. He caught the chain and pulled it. Night used the momentum to jump kick Jay. Jay slid back from the force of the kick, but maintained his balance.

"You shouldn't underestimate him." Onyx replied, while holding back Liam's sword and Reggie's axe with each of his arms. As Turk attempted to swing his flail towards Onyx, who dropped into a portal to evade. He dropped behind Turk, facing away from him and staring at Jay. "He's done a lot better without Umbra." Onyx explained, while slamming his elbow into Turk's back without looking. He jumped back to perform a 180 jumping spinning roundhouse kick to Reggie, followed by a palm strike to to Liam.

"You! You're stronger than I hoped." Jay praised as he got up and cracked his neck. Night turned into a burst of blue roses and flew at Liam at super speed. As Reggie attempted to interfere, he was stopped by

"We haven't even fought yet." Onyx noted. He walked towards Jay, knowing Night can handle the others.

"I can just tell by looking at you. I don't need Aura sense to know that you're holding back your full power." Jay explained. "You think you won need that strength to beat us. That's going to make it more fun seeing the look on your face when you lose."

"You have no idea how powerful I've become." Onyx warned. His adventures have sent him across time and space to allow him to reach new levels.

"I have a pretty good idea. That's why I made sure to pull out all the stops." Jay respond.

An arrow flew towards Onyx. Onyx caught it before it could reach his face. It had a Zipline attached, and the archer that fired the arrow slid down.

"You remember me?" Flint Quicksilver asked.

"Your aura looks familiar." Onyx answered.

A hijacked Atlas Bullhead landed. Damascus Steele exited the pilot seat, while the other escaped criminals exited through the rear door. They all started surrounding Onyx and Night.

"I think it's time to regroup." Night replied. He used his aura to signal the other Ghosts. Shadow and Aero walked through portals. Silicon Pole Vaulted, landing next to Aero. Flame landed next to Night. Brass dropped from the air, with Volt not far behind. Camo jumped off a Rooftop. Light emerged from a bolt of golden lightning, mixed with purple.

The 8 original Ghost's gathered into a circle, their strengths growing from the chaos around them. Camo transformed the guns into a shotgun. Aero revealed his lamp, The Lamp Rider's the Riders, which was now transformed into a thurible. Volt held his tonfas as into a double bladed sword. Brass's gauntlets transformed, activating two chainsaws. Silicon transformed his weapon into a baton. Flame returned one of his swords to his back, and drew a shield to replace it. Light held his sword, readying for the first strike. Shadow propped his scythe over his shoulder. Night activated two arm blades, which he scrapped against each other. Onyx cracked his knuckles, no longer needing weapons.

A mountain exploded, and a Grimm Dragon emerged into the skies. It flew over Beacon, dropping a Black Goo that spawned more Grimm.

"We need to stop that thing. I'm not letting Vale get destroyed again." Onyx warned.

"Again?" Brass asked, confused.

"Aero. We need your Silver Eyes to take down that Grimm." Camo instructed.

"I can't fly." Aero reminded.

"I won't let you fall." Onyx replied. Onyx activated his Verto.

"And I'll be watching your backs." Night assured. Night activated Verto as well, and they both started flying. Onyx levitated Aero, carrying him with him.

"I'm glad that we are all allied once more." Aero commented. "Team NWOR cannot be stopped."


End file.
